The Way It Should Have Been
by StrawberryGreen
Summary: Harry's parents survive along with him the night that Voldemort attacks their home, and is soon defeated. This is Harry's life, the way it should have been. Obviously AU. Warning: SLASH. Rating will go up as the story progresses.
1. Prolouge

**Disclaimer: I, regrettably, do not own Harry Potter. Any bits of dialogue taken from the book are not owned by me.**

**Warning: This is for later chapters. Contains SLASH. Male/male relationships! You have been warned.**

**I will try to keep it as canon as possible with this pairing and the story in general, though any purely canon stuff, without any twists, will be very rare.**

**This first chapter is not how the other chapters will go. This one is to just give you background information necessary for Harry's years at Hogwarts.**

**Enjoy!**

:::

:::Halloween Night, 1981:::

James stuck his wand in his pocket, yawning. Little did he know that would be the thing that had just saved his and his wife's lives.

He heard the front door bang open, and he felt adrenaline push through his veins. He yelled to Lily, "Apparate! Somewhere safe! Take Harry and run!"

He watched Voldemort start to raise his wand, a cruel half-smile on his face. James Apparated with a crack! upstairs just in time to see Lily vanish with an identical noise before doing so himself, fleeing the house that now contained a very angry Voldemort.

*

"That was very close."

"I know."

"Who was your secret keeper?"

"Peter Pettigrew. We thought... Sirius said that Voldemort would suspect that it was him, and to choose Peter instead, because he would never guess..."

James looked up into the eyes of Albus Dumbledore, who had a very thoughtful expression on his face at this new piece of news.

"I was so close to just dropping my wand on the couch..." he turned scared eyes toward Lily, who was curled up on a newly conjured love seat with Harry, sleeping. He smiled sadly. "I'm just so happy they're safe. If I hadn't thought to Apparate, then... I don't even want to think about what could've- would've- happened." He sighed, looking over at Lily and Harry again, when the door to Dumbledore's office slammed open, causing Lily and Harry to wake up, Lily startled and somewhat frightened, Harry crying. James looked over in surprise at the sudden noise, and then glared- _Snape_.

"Headmaster-" he said, and then cut himself off, seeing that there were others in the room. He looked at James, and then over to the couch, and his eyes filled with evident relief for a moment before he controlled his expression carefully and looked back over at Dumbledore. "Headmaster. I must speak to you."

"Shortly, Severus. I have some things to discuss with the Potters first. If you will kindly wait outside my office for a few moments."

Snape nodded once, sent a glare at James and a soft glance at Lily, and then with a sweep of robes, he was back out the door. James glared at the him until he was out of sight, and then turned his attention back to Dumbledore. "What do we need to discuss?"

"Where you will be staying. Hogwarts is open, if you so need it. You are safe from Voldemort here. You may also move again, and find a new Secret Keeper, though I do not recommend this. You have experienced how unfortunately that can turn out."

James looked over at Lily. "I think... we'll take you up on the offer to stay here, at least until we're less shaken up about this whole thing. I'll need to contact Sirius-"

Dumbledore cut him off with a frown. "Sirius Black has been transported to Azkaban."

"What?!" James cried, standing up. "Why?" Lily's bright green eyes were wide and filled with concern.

"He has been accused of the murder of twelve innocent Muggle people, and Peter Pettigrew."

This news was met with a shocked silence. Dumbledore looked over his spectacles at them, a serious expression on his face.

Finally, after a few more moments of silence, Lily asked, weakly, "Sirius?"

Dumbledore nodded. "I am sure there is an explanation for this. The authorities are saying that Peter was accusing Sirius of turning you over to Voldemort. The Ministry apparently assumed that Peter was telling the truth, though we now know that is not possible."

James seemed to shake himself out of his brief frozen state. "He would never- innocent Muggles! He wouldn't do that! And Peter- Peter betrayed us!"

"I am well aware of that, Mr. Potter. However, Mr. Black was the only wizard at the scene of the crime, holding his wand. It was logical to arrest him. If you are absolutely certain he is innocent, I will do everything in my power to give him a fair trial and a chance to prove that he is innocent."

James took a deep breath, then nodded. "He is. I know him better than anyone. "

Dumbledore inclined his head a fraction, and then stood up. "Very well then. Now, that's enough talk for tonight. I will have Minerva show you to the quarters you will be staying in."

James and Lily, who was carrying a now sleeping Harry, made their way out of the room. When they reached the small waiting room outside Dumbledore's office, Snape regarded them with cold eyes. He swept past them and into the Headmaster's room without a word. Lily turned and opened her mouth a little bit, as if she wanted to say something, and then seemed to think better of it, snapping it shut. She turned back around and walked toward the spiraling staircase, looking up into James' brown eyes, tears welling up in her own green pair.

"Oh, James..." she cried into his shoulder as the stairs continued their descent. He put an arm around her shoulder, kissing the top of her head.

"I know, I know. We're safe, and so is Harry. That's all that matters right now."

She sniffed and looked down at their son, who was sleeping peacefully in her arms again. She gave a sad smile. "I hope this won't be his first memory."

James closed his eyes and withdrew his arm, stepping out from the stairs and nodding to Minerva McGonagall, who had been awaiting them. She led the couple down a flight of stairs and a corridor, stopping at a portrait of a young, black haired woman. McGonagall then spoke.

"Behind this portrait are the rooms you in which you will be staying," she told them in her teacher voice, "there are two bedrooms, a small living room area, a bathroom, and a table for your meals, if you do not wish to eat with the staff in the Great Hall. It does not have a password yet, and you will need to set one. Just tell her what you would like the password to be, and she will make it so. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything." Her voice then changed to that of a concerned parent. "I am sorry about what happened tonight. You need your rest, so I will leave now." She gave them a small smile, only the slight upturn of the corners of her mouth, before striding back down the hallway and around the corner.

:::November 12, 1981:::

"Still nothing about a case for Sirius?" James asked for the twentieth time in the last week, each time hoping the answer would change.

Dumbledore shook his head.

"If they could just see he was telling the truth..." James said, and then looked up sharply. "What about Veritaserum?" he asked. "That would show them once and for all that he was innocent, right? That he's telling the truth? I could take it too, to confirm the fact that Peter was our Secret Keeper."

Dumbledore tilted his head to the side. "The Ministry doesn't usually like to use it, because it's tricky, but it would give his answers more credibility. I will suggest it." he took out a piece of parchment and quill, penning a quick letter to the Minister of Magic and sending it off.

James felt a smile break across his face for the first time since Halloween. "This has got to work! Veritaserum is the strongest truth potion there is! If anything could prove him innocent, that would be it!"

Dumbledore gazed at him over his half-moon spectacles, somewhat stern, but in a slightly better more nonetheless. This might work. "Don't assume that he will be willing to do this, Mister Potter."

"I know. I just- it's a solution."

:::December 1, 1981:::

"Sirius! Sirius! Padfoot!" James ran forward, capturing his best friend in a crushing bear hug the moment he was out of the floo. "I'm so glad you're free."

"Believe me, I am too. That place..." Sirius shuddered a little bit at just thinking about it. "How are you? How're Lily and Harry?" he asked, once he was released from James' clutch.

"We're fine, good. How... how are you?"

"I've been better," he grinned. "Dementors, mate. Terrible, terrible creatures."

James nodded. He knew the feeling, even though he had only been exposed to them for a short periods. He could barely imagine being constantly surrounded by them.

Sirius spoke up again. "Thank you so much, by the way."

James blinked. "For what?"

"Getting me out, you git! The Veritaserum?"

James grinned. His idea had actually worked. The Minister had agreed on it, and once under the influence of it, they found out that Sirius and James had been telling the truth all along.

"I hear that Peter's in there now, instead of me."

James' grin faltered. "Yeah," he said, running a hand through his hair. "He is. The, uh, Dementor's Kiss, actually."

Sirius muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "he deserves it" before suggesting they go find Lily and Harry.

:::September 28, 1982:::

"I'm glad we're finally getting out of here."

"I know, I am too," James told his wife, while packing up all of the possessions they had managed to scavenge from their old house and had brought to Hogwarts for the year they had lived there.

"When are we meeting Sirius for the new Fidelius Charm?"

"In about an hour, in Dumbledore's office."

:::July 31, 1984:::

"He's... dead. He's dead! Voldemort is dead! He's gone! We won! WE WON!"

Cheers could be heard all over the world as the news got around: Voldemort had been defeated, most of his Death Eaters unmasked and sent to Azkaban. There were parties for days and days, even weeks. Everyone was happy- except for the Death Eaters and their supporters, of course.

:::August 20, 1984:::

"Lily Potter and James Potter, I present you both with official Order of Merlin: First Class for your services toward the peace of Wizards, and your services in the Wizarding War."

An overwhelming amount of clapping filled the large plaza the ceremony was taking place in. Photographers snapped countless pictures of the event- Lily and James with their new Orders, each holding one of their four-year-old son Harry's hands. They were smiling, looking around at everyone applauding their achievement

:::March 3, 1985:::

"Lucius Malfoy, you are hereby found guilty, and will serve a life sentence in Azkaban."

A single broken sob coud be heard coming from the back row.

:::August 10, 1988:::

"Harry, this is Ronald Weasley."

"Hi."

"Hi."

"What's your favorite Quidditch team?"

"Chudley Cannons."

"Ugh, why?"

Lily smiled down at the boys. She knew they were going to be great friends.

:::

**Hahaa, simple Apparation and Veritaserum to solve some main problems? I know, it's a stretch...**

**Well, we'll get to the actual story next!**

**Also, if you found any problems, please, please, please tell me!**

**Review?**


	2. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: I, regrettably, do not own Harry Potter. Any bits of dialogue taken from the book are not owned by me.**

**Warning: This is for later chapters. Contains SLASH. Male/male relationships! You have been warned.**

:::

"You will be the perfect addition to Gryffindor," James told his son one afternoon in August, while they were getting ready to Floo to Diagon Alley to get Harry's things for his first year of school.

"What if I'm not in Gryffindor?" Harry asked, frowning. James gave him a look.

"Harry! Do you have the list?" Lily Potter asked, rounding the corner into the living room. Harry nodded, holding it up. "Alright then, you first, James." Harry watched his father take a handful of green powder out of a medium-sized jar on the mantle. James threw it into the fire, stepped in, and shouted, "Diagon Alley!"

Lily held the pot down to Harry, who took a handful of it just like his father. He threw it into the flames and stepped in, shouting "Diagon Alley!" just the way James had.

Harry felt the familiar whirring of everything around him, and made sure to keep his elbows tucked in. One time, when he was eight, he had banged an elbow on something very hard, and had gotten a bruise on it that had hurt for days. But now he was eleven, and knew better than that.

Harry landed in Flourish and Blotts next to his father, who helped him up and brush some of the soot off his clothes. A moment later, his mother also stepped out, brushing herself off. They decided to start their shopping with books since they were in the shop anyway. Harry read the list of books out loud to his parents. Every time he said one, either his mother or father would help him find it. After collecting _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_, _A History of Magic, Magical Theory_,and_ A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration, _Harry set off to search for _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_. He was heading over to the Herbology section of the store, when something caught his eye. He looked up and saw a boy around his age with soft-looking white-blonde hair had just passed him. He stared after him for a moment, before shaking himself mentally and continuing his search.

After all his books had been collected and paid for, the Potters headed over to Eeylops Owl Emporium to buy Harry's first owl, as promised. He, after much thought, picked out a medium sized white owl that seemed to have a tint of gold to its fur and had large, glittering, gold eyes. He named his new pet Helios, after the Greek figure for the sun.

His mind could not seem to stay away from the boy, though. He kept thinking he saw him, his hair, his face, and then he would look over and nobody would be there. He was starting to get creeped out when he did it again, but this time the boy really _was_ there, apparently on his way somewhere. Harry followed him with his eyes, watching until he entered a shop- Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Harry urged his parents to please hurry up talking to someone Official and Important so he could talk to- no, even _see_ would be fine- the boy. He needed to make sure he was real, and not just something made up. Three minutes later, Harry had decided that the adults were taking too long, as he slunk away through the crowd and toward the shop by himself. He looked up at the sign, and then the door, which he pushed open and stepped inside.

"Oh, hello, dear."

Harry jumped slightly, looking up at the witch- Madam Malkin, he suspected- and then around the store.

"Hogwarts as well? We've been getting so many of you today. Another one just came in a few minutes ago."

Harry nodded in response to her question, and then looked up, seeing the blonde boy standing on a stool. He now saw, in the light from the store, that the boy was very pale, had a slightly pointed face, and was a tiny bit slimmer than Harry himself, a rare feat, as Harry was very thin.

"Well, let's get you up on that stool right there, and I'll start your fitting in a moment," with that, the witch bustled away and into a back room. Harry took this as a sign to stand on the stool next to the blonde boy, feeling slightly self-conscious as he did so. The blonde boy looked over at him, and smiled. His teeth were perfect.

"Hello," he said.

"Hello."

"Hogwarts too, right?"

"Yeah."

"What house do you think you'll be in?"

"Gryffindor's probably the most likely, considering that's where my family's been for a long while," Harry told him. "You?"

Harry missed the almost imperceptible frown that flitted across the other boy's face before he said, "Slytherin. I think I would just about die if I was put in Hufflepuff, don't you think?"

Harry laughed. "They're loyal, that's good... but other than that, I can see your point."

The other boy laughed at this, and they easily fell into talking about Quidditch, Houses, and just about anything else. Eventually Madam Malkin came back and started fitting them, making it difficult to talk, so they stood in somewhat companionable silence until she was finished. Harry decided that although this boy had a sort of rich, pampered air about him, it wasn't at all overpowering. He thought the boy could probably intimidate people easily, as he was very sarcastic and intelligent, but didn't always feel the need to. When they hopped off of the stools, bags of new robes in hand, they resumed talking about meeting on the train. It was then that Harry realized he hadn't learned the other boy's name yet.

"Oh, sorry I was so rude. I'm Harry Potter," he said, smiling. The other boy looked confused before seemingly taking control of his facial expression, and bowed the slightest bit.

"I'm Draco Malfoy."

Harry froze. _Malfoy._ His mouth dropped open a small fraction, and he was sure he made some kind of noise, before reigning in his reaction as well. He bowed a tiny bow, just like Malfoy had.

Draco seemed to notice the reaction to his name, for his cheeks colored a tiny bit with a rosy pink, but he held his head higher than Harry would have thought possible, given the situation he was in. "Well, I'll see you at the station, then." he said, and then exited the shop, with Harry staring after him.

Harry walked out onto the crowded street of Diagon Alley, trying to locate his parents. He knew they would be furious if they knew he had run off without their permission, but he honestly didn't care at that moment.

_I just befriended my dad's most famous Death Eater catch's son._

He weaved his way in and out of the crowd, trying to focus on finding his parents and not thinking about the boy he had just met. He scanned the crowd for his mother's tell-tale red hair, his father's jet black. He was so focused on his task that he jumped about a mile high when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around, and then grinned.

"Sirius! Remus!" he shouted, getting pulled into a hug by both.

Sirius grinned back, while Remus just gave him a serene smile.

"Harry," Sirius greeted. "How have you been, m'boy?"

"Alright," Harry told them. "What about you guys? You haven't stopped by in a while."

"We're doing fine, Harry," Remus said, smiling down at him. "Are you excited about Hogwarts?"

Harry nodded his head vigorously. "Of course! How could I not be?"

Remus chuckled, while Sirius barked with laughter. "Best years of my life," he said, "Now, do you know where your parents are? We wanted a word with them."

Harry shook his head, and a sheepish expression showed on his face. "I actually don't know. I've been trying to find them for ten minutes, but it's like they've left or something!"

"You can walk with us until we find them, then." Remus told him, and they set off down the street in search of the elder Potters.

A few minutes later, they found them in the Apothecary, looking like they were searching for something- or someone. Harry gulped nervously. He knew they would probably be cross with him about leaving their side, but they looked panicked, too. Not good.

They entered the Apothecary, and caught up with James and Lily. "James! Lily! We have something you might be looking for!" Sirius yelled to them over the crowd, and they looked up, and then looked down at Harry. While relief was clearly in their eyes, there was also anger. They made their way over to the three standing near the door.

"Harry! Just where have you been?" Lily asked once they were all in one group.

"You were taking so long talking to that man that I went ahead and got my robes," he held the bag up slightly.

"Have you seen the number of people here today? You could have been kidnapped, or lost, or worse!" she told him.

"I know. I was... careful."

James' eyebrows went up at that. "Walking away from us in the middle of a crowded street is hardly careful, Harry."

Harry shuffled his feet. "Sirius and Remus found me," he gestured up to the two older men standing behind him.

"Yes, and thank goodness for that! Thank you, Sirius, Remus," Lily said to them, hugging them each briefly, before getting back to business. "You are grounded until school. No flying, no flooing to friends houses, nothing. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, mum," he murmured.

"Good. We will discuss this more at home. Now, we need to go and get your wand. Harry, come with me. James, you can catch up with Sirius and Remus, and then meet us there." James nodded, and then Harry and Lily set down the street, toward Ollivanders.

When they were just outside the shop, Lily turned to Harry, crouching down to his height, "Harry. You need to be on your best behavior for the rest of the day, or the punishment will be much worse."

Harry nodded, stepping inside the shop quickly so that she could say no more. Lily followed, and a bell chimed inside. Harry had been to most of the other shops in Diagon Alley before, but never this one. It almost looked as though the walls were made of small, rectangular boxes. Lily sat down in the only chair in the room, and they waited. It wasn't long until they heard a soft, "Good afternoon" and saw an old, wide-eyed man standing there.

"Lily Potter, I remember the day you walked in as though it were yesterday. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. I assume you still have it?" Lily nodded, drawing out her wand and holding it up briefly.

"Your father, however," he said to Harry, "Eleven inches, pliable, mahogany. A nice Transfiguration wand. Now it's your turn." he pointed to Harry. "Which arm is your wand arm?"

"Right."

Ollivander took a tape measure out of his pocket, and it started measuring Harry by itself, while Ollivander walked around and plucked a few boxes off of shelves. The man stepped over to Harry, and the measure stopped, settling on the ground. Ollivander held a wand out to Harry. He took it in his right hand, and flicked it about a bit. Nothing happened. Ollivander shook his head, and handed him a different wand, taking the first one and setting it down. Harry flicked this one too, and the lights flickered. Ollivander handed him another, and another. After trying around twenty separate wands, the wandmaker looked deep in thought, but pleased.

"Try this," he told Harry, handing him another wand. "Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, supple." The moment Harry took the wand, he knew this was the right one. He flicked it, like all the others, and sparks flew out of the tip. Lily smiled, and Harry grinned up at Ollivander, who was looking very pensive "Hmm... curious."

Lily looked over at him, frowning. "What?" she asked him, looking slightly perplexed.

"The phoenix who gave the feather that is in your new wand, Mr. Potter, gave only one other. It's brother, yew, thirteen and a half inches, was the one that drove you from your home all those years ago."

Lily's mouth dropped open. "Voldemort?"

Ollivander nodded, and turned back to Harry. "You will achieve great things, Mr. Potter." Harry just nodded uncertainly. Lily looked shocked.

"It is the wand that chooses the wizard, my dear."

Lily smiled a bit, paid seven Galleons for the wand, and then they were off. "That is so odd," Lily was saying, "Just... bizarre. Hmm, but no need to read into it, huh? I wonder where your father is..."

They found James, Sirius, and Remus at Foretean Fortescues, the Ice Cream parlor. They each had a large cup full of ice cream and were talking while eating it. Lily arched an eyebrow at them, but led Harry inside to get him some ice cream as well. When they stepped in, Harry smelled the familiar sugary scent of his favorite store. He jogged up to the counter and immediately ordered a large cone with vanilla, chocolate, and fudge ice cream. The worker passed it over the counter to him, and he sat down at a nearby table and started eating it even before Lily had paid. Harry had a rather large sweet tooth.

He was just getting past the fudge part of his ice cream when he heard slightly raised voices. He looked up and saw Draco Malfoy and a woman who looked very much like him looking vaguely distressed. The woman was speaking to someone in an official Auror uniform. He caught a few words of what she was saying.

"...as much a right to be here...not my husband...done nothing wrong..."

Harry caught the gist of it fairly quickly. Aurors were trying to kick the Malfoys, he assumed the woman was Draco's mother, out of Diagon Alley. A moment later Harry saw his dad stand up as well, and speak in low voices to the Auror. A few moments later, the Auror nodded grudgingly, and walked down the street. His father then turned to the Malfoys, talking to them for a minute before nodding a little and sitting back down with Sirius and Remus. Harry watched Draco walk away with his mother, and then looked down at his cone to see it was melting. He frowned, finished his cone, and then went outside, where the three men were still talking in quiet tones, laughing every once in a while. Harry tapped his father on the shoulder. "Where's mum?" he asked.

"Getting the last of the supplies. Here, sit down with us," he conjured up another chair and put it in between his and Sirius'. While the men were talking, Harry was thinking about anything and everything. Eventually, his thoughts carried him back to Draco. More specifically, Draco's hair. _It's so beautiful, looks so soft... I wonder if I'll ever be able to touch it without freaking him out. I don't want him to think I like him or anything. Wait, beautiful? What? I don't like him! Well, I do as a person... I think..._

He was snapped out of contemplating the level of his liking for Draco Malfoy when his father waved a hand in front of his face. "Come on, we don't want to keep your mother waiting." Harry looked around, and was surprised to see Sirius and Remus gone. _I guess I was more out of it than I had thought._

Harry and James set off down the street, heading toward Flourish and Blotts to Floo back home.

*

The moment Harry got home, he tried to escape to his room, hoping that his parents had forgotten about him sneaking away from them. He had just put his foot on the first stair when his father called him back into the kitchen. He sighed, but walked over, knowing that the faster he got this over with, the better.

"Yes, dad?"

"Your mother and I would like to talk to you about today," he told Harry, motioning for him to sit across the table from them. Harry sat in a large green chair, wary. "Yes?"

James fixed him with a stern look over the top of his glasses."What you did was very careless and possibly dangerous, Harry. We really did expect more from you."

Harry frowned. _I'm not a bloody saint, and I didn't even do anything that bad. _He refrained from saying this out loud, though, and just bowed his head a little in acknowledgement.

"Now, the punishment that your mother came up with still stands. Grounded until school starts, which means no seeing friends, no going out flying, no coming with us on trips to Diagon Alley, no visiting Sirius or Remus..."

Harry zoned out as James listed even more things Harry wasn't allowed to do for the two remaining weeks until school. He only snapped out of it when Lily said, "Are you listening, Harry? We are not happy about what you did."

Harry nodded, waiting to be dismissed, which he hoped he would be soon. He was bored, and wanted to look at his new school things. He let his mind wander again as his mom rambled on and on about why they were not happy with him. _Blah, blah, blah. We don't want you to get hurt, this is for your own good, blah. I'm going to bore you to death with this conversation, blah, blah. We don't know why you did this, it was dangerous, you are the son of two well-known Aurors, blah. Blah, blah, blah, reputation, blah. School soon, want you to be safe, blah. Death Eaters, blah, blah, blah. _He knew that was how this "conversation", even though it more like being talked _at_, would go even though they had never had to have it with him before.

Finally, after what seemed like hours and hours of talking to Harry, they let him go up to his room, telling him they would call him down for dinner shortly. Sure enough, half an hour later he was being summoned down stairs. Setting his book aside, he jogged down the steps and into the brightly lit kitchen, greeting his parents as he walked in, and sat down at the round, relatively small table they used when they didn't have guests over. His parents were already there, his father sitting across from him, and his mother setting tonight's dinner on the table. She too sat down, and they began eating.

Harry hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation thus far, as it was mostly just about work, so when it turned to Hogwarts, Harry looked up. James was currently talking about a time when he had gotten caught filling a classroom with dungbombs. Harry grinned at his dad when he described how much trouble he had gotten in. He loved the stories his dad told. His mother seemed to disapprove of this, because she turned to Harry and said, "You won't be doing any such thing, or you will be hearing from us, alright? School rules are not to be taken lightly, and we will be hearing from your teachers every time you get a detention." James just rolled his eyes a bit, making Harry laugh. At Lily's look, Harry agreed to try and stay out of trouble as much as possible.

"So, Harry, I expect you're more than ready to go, then?"

Harry smiled. "Yeah! It's gonna be wicked! I can't wait!"

"I'm sure you'll love it. Gryffindor tower is so comfortable, and the food is absolutely fantastic. I know you can't try out in your first year, but when you can, Quidditch is so much better on a formal team."

Harry nodded, taking all this information in. Something was bothering him, thought. His father had mentioned Gryffindor twice. What if he didn't get in?

"What if I'm not in Gryffindor?" he asked for the second time that day.

His parents spoke at the same time. "Of course you'll be in-" was his dad, while his mom said, "If you aren't, then I'm sure you'll-" They looked at each other for a moment, before James motioned for Lily to continue. She turned to Harry.

"We'd be so proud if you were, and it would surprise both of us if you weren't. However, if you're not, we won't be angry. Whichever House you're in will be where you belong, and we won't be angry or disappointed."

Harry smiled, happy with the answer he had gotten, but was almost sure he had heard his father mutter, "as long as it's not Slytherin."

When dinner ended, Harry bade goodnight to his parents, and trudged up the stairs, having little energy left. He collapsed on his large red and gold bed. Something from dinner was bothering him, nagging at his mind. He went over the day, pausing every once in a while to think something through. It was when he got to the conversation at dinner, he realized what it was. _They expect me to be in Gryffindor. _This was obvious; his whole room was decorated in Gryffindor colors. Harry had a feeling that they were mistaken, though. He was almost convinced that he wouldn't be, but tried to get his mind to think that he would be. _Of course I will! My whole family has been, why not me? _Somewhat comforted by this new, though somewhat forced, thought he drifted off to sleep.

*

The next two weeks passed in a flurry. Harry forgot his worries about Gryffindor, and though he wasn't allowed to do much, he managed to pass the time. Before he knew it, September first had arrived. The day he was going to leave for school. He was so excited that he could only just contain it, barely able to sleep the night before. It wasn't until they were getting into the rental Ministry car that the nervousness made an appearance, in the form of butterflies in his stomach. He tried to will away the feeling, but no matter what he did, it kept coming back. When they reached the station, Harry unloaded his things onto a trolley, and they made their way toward the pillar between platforms nine and ten. His parents told him what to do, and Harry ran through the barrier, almost losing control of the cart. The sight that greeted his eyes when he passed through the wall was breathtaking. A giant, scarlet red train stood beside the platform, and various families and friends were milling about, greeting and saying goodbye to one another. Harry grinned, spotting Ron standing with his family twenty feet away. He waved, and his friend waved back. Harry waited for his parents, and then they made their way over to the red-headed family. They had been talking for a few minutes when something caught Harry's attention. He glanced around, and saw Draco Malfoy and his mother standing a few feet to the left of them, talking in low voices. Harry almost gasped when the blonde boy looked up suddenly and met his eye, the other boy's eyes seeming to light up the smallest bit at seeing Harry. _I probably just imagined that._

Harry looked away when his mother called his name. "Harry? It's almost time for you to get on the train. You need to say goodbye." Harry walked toward his parents, hugging them tightly as the whistle for the students to board sounded. Harry ran to train with his things, yelling, "Bye, mom! Bye, dad!" He heard his mother shout, "Don't forget to write!" before he stepped onto the train with the other students.

:::

**Finally, Hogwarts next!**

**Again, if you found any problems, please, please, please tell me!**

**Also, I know Draco is kind of OOC, but I'd imagine that he'd be less... jerkish (ahh, made up word) because he's been free of his father's influence since he was five. Don't worry, though: He's still the sarcastic git we know and love! Just not as horrible ;)**

**Review?**


	3. Chapter Two

**Sorry for the wait. I just don't have enough time to write constantly, so I'l probably update two or three times a week, if possible.**

**Disclaimer: I, regrettably, do not own Harry Potter. Any bits of dialogue taken from the books are not owned by me.**

**Warning: Contains SLASH. Male/male relationships! You have been warned.**

:::

Harry was pushed forward by the people coming in behind him, which was very uncomfortable, so he set off in search of a compartment. The first ones were full of older students meeting up with friends, and as he walked farther back they seemed to get younger. He looked for Ron's familiar red hair, but could not find him anywhere. Just as he was about to give up search for somewhere to sit and just stand in the hallway the whole ride, he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned, and was surprised to see Draco Malfoy standing there, smirking.

"Having trouble?"

Harry smiled a bit.

"Want to sit with me?"

Harry hesitated. The Malfoys were a generally shifty family, but... he did enjoy Malfoy's company and really did need a place to sit.

Malfoy saw his hesitation. "I'm not my father, Potter."

Harry nodded once, and saw something stir in Malfoy's grey eyes. He only saw it for a second, because the boy then turned around and walked a few compartments down. "In here," he said.

When Harry arrived at the compartment Malfoy was in, he was wary to see there were more people with him. A small girl with an upturned nose and short, black hair was sitting next to a pale, mousy boy. They were sitting across from a slightly regal-looking dark-skinned boy, who Malfoy then sat next to.

"Er, hi," Harry sat in greeting as he dragged his things in the compartment.

The girl looked up and nodded, the pale boy said, "hello", and the other boy ignored him, continuing to read his book. Harry hoisted his things up onto the rack, and then sat down rather awkwardly next to Malfoy.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Potter, this is Pansy Parkinson," he motioned to the girl, "Theodore Nott," the pale boy, "and the rude git is Blaise Zabini. He's rather anti-social."

The boy- Zabini- looked up at that. "I am not!"

Malfoy just smirked.

"So," the girl, _Pansy Parkinson, _Harry remembered, said, breaking the silence that had then fallen, "Harry Potter, huh? What's a boy like you- son of two of the most famous Aurors ever- doing in a compartment with us?"

Harry shifted in his seat. "There wasn't anywhere else, and I... met Malfoy in Diagon Alley and we talked. We agreed to meet up on the train." he shrugged. "And so here I am."

"Aren't you just the tiniest bit wary? I mean, we practically scream 'Slytherin!' Your father would be disappointed."

"I'm not my father," Harry told her, looking at Malfoy, who smiled slightly. Parkinson seemed mollified, as she stopped asking questions for the time being. They chatted about Quidditch for a bit before sinking into a more comfortable silence than last time. After a while of just small talk and silence, a smiling woman stopped outside their door and asked, "Anything off the trolley, dears?" Everyone in the compartment stood up and picked a good heap of sweets off the cart. Harry got the most.

Nott looked over at Harry's helping and raised his eyebrows. "Sweet tooth?"

Harry grinned and nodded. "I can't help it."

Their conversations got started up again as they ate, Zabini finally joining in after some prodding by Parkinson. Nott kept staring over at Harry for time to time while he ate his sweets. Eventually, he said, "You look like you're in pure bliss eating that stuff!"

Harry chuckled. "I am."

This got everyone laughing, or just sniggering quietly in the case of Zabini, and the noise level rose higher as they continued talking about everything they could think of. _They're rude, but... hilarious. I just wouldn't want to get on their bad side,_ Harry thought, as they discussed what they already knew about Hogwarts. Harry discovered that he was the only one there to have ever been inside the castle, or even on the grounds, before.

"You've actually _been_ there?" Malfoy asked, shocked. "Why?"

"Yeah, I lived there for about a year when I was like, one or two. For the year after we got attacked."

Everyone was slightly dumb-struck by this revelation.

"I don't remember it, though. The first place I remember living is the house I live in now."

Parkinson shook her head. "That's still awesome, though. What else have you gotten to do?"

Harry smirked a little. "Oh, nothing big, really. I've met the Minister of Magic a couple of times, though."

Nott's mouth actually dropped open a little at this. "The Minister of Magic?"

"Mmhmm." Harry said, like it was a normal occurrence for a eleven-year-old boy to have met the Minister a few times in their life.

Zabini arched an eyebrow, while Malfoy shook his head a little. Parkinson, apparently, thought she could do better than that.

"I've met the Holyhead Harpies _and_ the Montrose Magpies. They're the most successful team ever, you know.

With that, it soon turned into a competition to see who could come up with the most impressive celebrity they had met.

Just as Zabini was describing the President of Gringotts, their compartment door banged open. They all jumped and looked over to the door.

"Harry! There you are! What are you doing here with these... snakes?" Harry's friend, Ron Weasley, asked.

"Oh. Hi, Ron..."

"Did they kidnap you or something?"

"No. I'm just talking to them."

"...why?"

Harry shut his eyes in frustration. He murmured, "I'll be right back" to the compartment in general and then marched out into the hallway with Ron, sliding the door closed behind him.

"Yes?"

"Why are you in there? I've been looking for you all ride!"

"I was sitting with them, because they offered. I couldn't find another place to sit."

"You could have sat with me! Now come on, let's get your stuff, and we'll get to the right place, eh? Sorry it took so long, by the way, but Neville-"

"No."

"Huh?"

"No."

"No what?"

"No, I'm not going with you. I'm sorry, but I was with them first, and it would be rude. Besides, I like talking to them."

Ron looked confused. "You do know who's in there, right?"

"Of course I do! I just don't judge them by their parents or their names."

Ron shook his head, looking at Harry as though he had gone insane.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna stay."

"...I don't even know what to say to you," and with that, Ron walked away down the row of compartments and slid the door to one open, vanishing from sight and slamming the door shut behind him. Harry sighed, but opened the door again anyway, and sat back down next to Zabini. He noticed that everyone was trying to look like they hadn't been listening, when they obviously had.

There was silence for a few moments, before Malfoy snorted and said to Zabini, "Oh, please. The president of Gringotts is hardly impressive compared to some of the things the rest of us have come up with."

*

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

Harry made his way toward Hagrid, who he had met once or twice before, with Malfoy, Parkinson, Zabini, and Nott. After Malfoy's initial comment had broken the awkwardness that had been there after Harry's confrontation with Ron, their conversation picked up again. A little while later, a girl who looked to be about their age had opened their compartment door and told them they should probably change now. The ride had only been going for five more minutes, when a voice announced that they would be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes, and to leave their luggage on board. Sure enough, five minutes later and they were being ushered off of the train and in the direction of the large man.

"Firs' years follow me! This way!"

The group of first years shuffled their way over and followed the man leading them, huddling together against the wet and cold. Harry found himself pressed in between Malfoy and Parkinson, which he found slightly awkward, but welcomed the heat it provided. After a few minutes of near-silence, Hagrid called back, "Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec jus' round the bend here."

A moment later, there were many "oohs" and "ahhs" as the castle came into view beyond a large, dark lake. They trudged down to the shore of the lake, where there were small boats waiting for them.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid told them, and Harry looked at his companions.

"I'll go find a different boat, so you guys can sit together. Nice talking to you." Harry smiled a bit, and started to set off in search of a partially empty boat. Before he had even taken his second step, someone grabbed the sleeve of his robe and pulled, causing his the stumble back toward the group. He looked behind him, and saw that it was Parkinson who had grabbed him. She was shaking her head. "That's ridiculous. You're sitting with us."

"But- no more than four to a boat!"

"Which is also ridiculous. Theo, go sit with Millicent and Goyle."

Nott raised an eyebrow but did what he was told, walking away through the crowd.

"You didn't have to do that, I could have sat with-"

"Just shut up and be thankful."

Harry did, and he was grateful. Parkinson linked her arm through one of Harry's and Malfoy's, and nodded to Zabini. They climbed into a boat, and heard Hagrid call, "Everyone in? Right then- FORWARD!" and the little assembly of boats started making their way across the lake. Nobody said anything, gazing up at the large castle looming ahead, getting steadily nearer.

"Heads down!" Hagrid shouted, and everybody ducked as they sailed through a patch of ivy that concealed an opening in the cliff. After sailing along in a cave for a minute or so longer, they got out of their boats and they all followed Hagrid's lamp once more as they made their way up and onto a grassy area. They traipsed up the stone stairs that led to a giant front door, where Hagrid looked around at them all before knocking three times.

*

They were taken over from Hagrid by a tall, austere woman, who they discovered was Professor McGonagall. Harry had to stifle a snicker at this; she was exactly the way his father, Sirius, and Remus had described her. His mirth was soon replaced first by awe at the sheer size of the entrance hall, and then with nervousness. His nervousness was at least three times as bad as it had been in the car on the way to the station, and was only getting worse as they traveled into a small side chamber of the entrance hall. _If those were butterflies in my stomach, then these are like wasps in my organs. Maybe something less gruesome, but horrible and unsettling all the same._

He looked to his right, where Malfoy was standing, looking completely at ease. He seemed to be the only one, though. Everyone else looked terrified. Harry then glanced to his right, where Parkinson was slight pasty-looking, but not nearly as nervous as him. He tried to pull himself together, telling himself that he shouldn't be nervous at all, or at least not show that he was. He knew it was a losing battle, though.

"Parkinson? Do you know how they sort us?" he asked her, mostly to distract himself.

"Call me Pansy, we know each other well enough. And no, I don't. A test, maybe?"

"Hmm. You can call me Harry, then."

She smiled a bit, and then turned toward the front, where McGonagall was explaining some things. Harry wasn't paying much attention, though. He caught the end of her speech, "I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."

Harry looked around, where most people were adjusting their robes or hair. He tried to flatten his own unruly hair, but gave up quickly, knowing it was no use. A moment later, several gasps and a yell of surprise alerted him that something was going on.

"Ghosts," Malfoy breathed next to him. _Of course,_ Harry thought. Ghosts.

What looked to be a few dozen translucent ghosts had swooped through the wall at once and were all chatting together. Harry gaped up at them. Two in the front seemed to be arguing about something when they noticed the first years standing below them. The two arguing ones swooped down over the group and were talking to some of the students, asking them questions and giving them information. Since Harry was pushed to the back right-hand side of the chamber, and Pansy was talking to Zabini, he could barely make out most of what they were saying. He heard the words, "Sorted," "Hope," "Hufflepuff," and "know," before McGonagall returned, sending the ghosts away and calling the group to order.

"Now, form a line and follow me." her loud voice rang out through the chamber.

Harry hopped behind Pansy and in front of Malfoy, and the nervousness that had abated slightly returned yet again, this time with more vigor and a will to make him feel like he was going to puke all over Pansy's back. They waked out of the chamber, back into the entrance hall, and into a large pair of doors that opened to the Great Hall. Harry swallowed nervously as almost all of the older students turned around in their seats to gaze at the newcomers. He tried to distract himself from the stares to study the hall. He looked around at the thousands of candles floating in the air, and then up to the sky, which was absolutely beautiful; pitch black and filled with glittering with stars. He stared up at it in amazement, barely noticing that they had now come to a halt in front of the long table at the front of the room. He didn't notice that everyone was staring at the tattered hat sitting on a stool in front of them until Malfoy nudged him and then nodded toward it. Harry stared at it like everybody else, and was starting to get confused, as it wasn't doing anything. A moment later though, it started singing. Harry listened to every word of the song, soaking up all the information he could. When it was finished, Harry clapped along with everyone else, and he watched as it bowed to all four house tables before becoming motionless. Harry smiled to himself. _We only have to try it on._ He could have cried in relief. Pansy looked as though she was having the same thoughts.

Professor McGonagall then strode forward a few steps, holding a long roll of cream-colored parchment. She angled herself toward the first years. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."

"Abbott, Hannah!"

Harry watched as the girl tripped up to the stool and jammed the hat on her head. A moment later, it declared, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The girl smiled, and headed toward her new table. Harry observed as "Bones, Susan", "Boot, Terry", "Brocklehurst, Mandy", and "Brown, Lavender" were sorted before hearing a vaguely familiar name.

"Bulstrode, Millicent!"

_Millicent Bulstrode, Millicent Bulstrode... Oh! Pansy told Nott to go sit with her! _Harry mentally congratulated himself on remembering before turning back to the sorting, where "Finch-Fletchley, Justin" was sorted into Hufflepuff. "Finnegan, Seamus" was next, and the hat took it's time deciding. A full minute and four seconds after the boy had put it on, it screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!" and the boy headed to his table. Harry noticed that the girl with the frizzy, brown hair who had told them to put their robes on was sorted into Ravenclaw, and after a few names it was Malfoy's turn. Harry gave him a meek smile when McGonagall called, "Malfoy, Draco!"

Malfoy sauntered up to the stool, practically radiating confidence. He plopped down on the stool, and set the hat on top of his head. Barely three seconds had passed, before- "SLYTHERIN!"

Harry didn't know whether to be happy for him or not. While he knew that all of the people who he sat with on the train were probably going to be sorted into Slytherin, he had hoped not. He wished that at least one of them- hopefully not Zabini, as he didn't seem to like him much- would be sorted into the same house as Harry. He clapped for Malfoy nonetheless, though. Only two people later, and Nott was being called forward as well. The hat declared, "SYTHERIN!" again, and Harry applauded. Pansy was called up directly after Nott, and she too was sorted into Slytherin. _Now my only hope is Zabini,_ Harry thought bleakly. Three more were called up, and then it was Harry's turn.

"Potter, Harry!"

Harry stepped up to the stool, trying to look as confident as Malfoy, and picked up the hat gingerly. He sat on the edge of the stool, and set the hat on his head. It slid down halfway over his eyes, which was very uncomfortable, as his glasses got in the way. He started a little when he heard a voice.

"Well, well, well... your attributes are about even, I see. This will be challenging. Courageous, smart enough, eager to please, as well, but not too much so... where shall you go? Your talents make you well suited for Slytherin. You could go very far there, they would help you gain excellence. You would have many useful allies there. Yes... well, then- SLYTHERIN!"

Harry pulled the hat off, dumb-struck. _Why did I let it do that? I should have told it no!_ He staggered over to the Slytherin table, where everyone was cheering and clapping, Pansy, Malfoy, and Nott the loudest. He sat down next to Nott, and gave them an uneasy grin. He glanced back toward the front of the room, and then immediately wished he hadn't. Ron was glaring at him with all his might, it seemed like. _If looks could kill..._

Harry watched the remaining few people get sorted, Zabini being the last. He tried to ignore the faint feeling of dread that was settling around him. He tried to act like nothing was wrong, but Slytherins really are too observant for their own good.

"What's wrong?"

Harry looked up from staring at his lap at the whisper.

"Hm?"

"You look like someone just killed your pet Kneazle," Nott told him, frowning a bit.

"Oh! Umm, it's nothing."

"You're wondering what your parents will think." It wasn't a question.

"Err... how did you-?"

"It's not that hard to figure out. I mean, you are the son of the of the world's most famous Aurors, as Pansy pointed out earlier."

"Hmm."

"You shouldn't care what they think."

"They're my parents!"

"Not them, they'll accept you. I meant Weasley," Nott nodded over to the Gryffindor table, where Ron was glaring daggers at everything. "You need to get over it. It's not like you'll never see each other."

Harry nodded, feeling admittedly better. _I'll just have to make the best of the situation, then._

"Now watch, Dumbledore's talking."

Harry looked to the front, and sure enough, there was Dumbledore, standing up and grinning around at all the students.

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin out banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" and he sat.

Harry looked around at his fellow Slytherins in puzzlement. Pansy gave him a wide-eyed look, Malfoy had an eyebrow raised, and Nott was frowning slightly. The rest of the Hall burst into applause and cheers, and Harry clapped along with them, not very sure of what to do. He didn't have to worry, because a moment later all of the gold dishes in front of them were filled with every kind of food imaginable Even though Harry had eaten more than his helping of sweets on the train, he immediately filled his plate with food. He started stuffing the food in his mouth, savoring every bite. He made sure not to eat too much, though; he wanted to save room for desert.

Ten minutes later, the food disappeared and was replaced with dessert. Harry gazed around at it, not knowing which dish to try first. He settled with just plain ice cream, his favorite. He scooped several portions of a rich chocolate into a bowl, picking up a spoon, and tasting it.

He thought he had gone to heaven.

"This," Harry said, in between mouthfuls of ice cream, "is the best thing I have ever tasted," another two spoonfuls, "In my entire life."

Everyone else ignored him save for a look or two, focusing on their own desserts. It wasn't until three minutes later, when Harry thought he would just about die from ecstasy, that anyone acknowledged him.

"Are you alright?" Zabini asked him incredulously

"More than alright."

"You sound like someone's giving you the time of your life under the table, if you know what I mean."

Harry almost spit his ice cream out all over the table. "What?!"

"You're moaning and groaning like there's no tomorrow."

"Oh," was all Harry could say, absolutely mortified. "Umm."

Zabini rolled his eyes, and went back to his cheesecake. Harry noticed Malfoy smirking around his torte, and he scowled, trying to control his reactions.

A few embarrassed but uneventful minutes later, Dumbledore stood up again. Harry listened as the Headmaster told them that the forest was off-limits, magic was not allowed in corridors, and Quidditch trials would be held the week after next.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" he flicked his wand, and a gold ribbon came out of the end, and maneuvered itself into words. "Everyone pick their favorite tune, and off we go!"

Harry did not sing along with the rest of the school, and noticed that a good many of his fellow Slytherins did the same. Malfoy looked like he was trying to block out the sound, Nott looked bored, and Pansy had an amused look on her face.

When everyone except the Weasley twins were finished, Harry couldn't help but grin. Fred and George were two of his favorite people, they were such characters it was hard to not like them. When they were finally finished, Harry applauded.

"Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

There was a great rustle as everyone stood up and made their way out of the Great Hall. Harry walked with his fellow first year Slytherins behind a prefect, on their way to the Slytherin common room. Right after they pointed out where the dormitories were, Harry trudged in there, located his bed, shut the curtains, and fell asleep, fully clothed.

:::

**Slytherin!Harry. Pretty easy to guess, right?**

**Reviews inspire me and make me write faster! -winkwinknudgenudge- So...**

**Review?**


	4. Chapter Three

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed or added this to your story alerts! I love you all for it, believe me.**

**Disclaimer: I, regrettably, do not own Harry Potter. Any bits of dialogue taken from the books are not owned by me.**

**Warning: Contains SLASH. Male/male relationships! You have been warned.**

:::

Harry awoke the next morning to find he still had his school clothes and robes on. _Wait... school robes? _With that thought, memories from the previous day entered him mind like a flood. He sat up slowly, looking around his bed. It had a silver frame and green sheets_. Slytherin colors. _Instead of being repulsed by this thought, Harry was strangely comforted. He gazed down at the soft comforter before looking up and noticing the tapping sound on the window. He stuck his head out of his hangings and looked at the small window close to the ceiling. He saw an owl that he immediately recognized as his father's. He shrugged out of his robes, and kicked his shoes off, shivering slightly. He hopped out of bed, and winced as his bare feet hit the cold stone on the ground. He padded over to the window and unhooked it, pushing it open. The owl swooped in, dropped a package on his bed, and the flew back out. Harry shut the window, tiptoeing back to his bed and climbing in, pulling his hangings closed. He examined the package, and then tore it open. A small note fell out.

_Harry-_

_Forgot to give you this before you left. Don't tell your mother._

_-Dad_

_P.S- You'll get an actual letter at breakfast._

Harry looked down and, setting the note aside, picked up what looked to be a shimmering piece of cloth. His mouth fell open. _An invisibility cloak? _He slid his hand inside the fabric to confirm, and grinned when it disappeared. _I didn't know he had one of these. _He slipped it into his trunk for later, his mood light.

Harry was still in a very chipper mood when he heard someone moving around. He poked his head through his curtains, and was surprised to see Nott walking around, putting his things away around his bed and in drawers.

_I should probably do that too._

He slid his hangings open, nodded a greeting to Nott, and then turned to the trunk at the bottom of his bed. He hoisted it up onto his bed, and unlatched it. He pulled out his clothes and shoved them in the small dresser-bedside table next to his bed, and put the few trinkets he had brought from home on top of it. _I don't know my schedule, so I can't pack up my bag yet. _He sighed. He was done with unpacking, and had nothing else to do. He placed his trunk back at the foot of the bed, and then took out some clean clothes for the day before walking into the bathroom and undressing to take a shower.

*

Harry walked into the Great Hall hungry. Just smelling the food was almost making his mouth water.

"It's a wonder you're not terribly obese," Malfoy said, eying his plate. Harry grinned and looked down. He had four pieces of toast, some eggs, two pancakes and a myriad of various small pastries, syrups, and much more all dumped onto his plate. He shrugged and scooped some of it up with his fork, ignoring Malfoy's frown of disgust. Harry looked over at Malfoy's plate.

"You're barely eating!"

"Nonsense. I am just... petite."

"More like anorexic."

Malfoy gaped at him. "That is such a lie!"

Harry arched an eyebrow in the same way that Malfoy had.

"Is it, now?"

"Yes!"

"Then why don't you eat more?"

"Because, I am not a savage like _some_ people here," he frowned at Harry.

"Whatever, Malfoy."

The other boy was silent for a moment, before saying, "Draco."

"Hmm?"

"Call me Draco. You call Pansy by her first name, so I guess you can me by mine."

Harry smiled a little.

"Then you can call me Harry,_ Draco._"

Draco smirked. "I know, _Harry_."

Harry rolled his eyes.

A few seconds later, there was a loud screech from above, and Harry looked up to see hundreds of owls flying in through the window. He remembered what his father's note had said about a letter coming. Sure enough, a letter landed next to plate, and he picked it up, slitting it open.

_Harry,_

_How was your first night at Hogwarts? Have you made any new friends? I hope you're behaving yourself. Try not to get into too much trouble. Tell us if you've forgotten anything, and we'll send it along._

_Make sure to send us a reply soon._

_Love,_

_Mom&Dad_

He smiled; the first part was in his mother's handwriting. There was also a small note near the bottom in his father's untidy scrawl.

_P.S.- How was your first night in Gryffindor Tower? Just like I described it?_

And just like that, the nervousness that had dissolved last night was present again, this time with a large portion of panic. A single thought ran through his head. _I should go ask Dumbledore if I can switch to Gryffindor._

"You okay?"

"No. This is not okay. I'm- I'm a Potter! Potters aren't in Slytherin! Potters have never been in Slytherin! My father will hate me!"

Draco just looked at him, blinked, and went back to his food, uninterested. Harry thought he was going to start hyperventilating soon.

"I- I don't know what to do. I can't tell them. I can't tell..."

Pansy then arrived and plopped herself down next to Harry. She took a long look at him, and turned to Nott, who was sitting across the table.

"Why is he freaking out?"

"He's worried his parents will want to disown him if he tells them he's in Slytherin."

Pansy rolled her eyes, and turned to Harry.

"You need to pull yourself together. We may not be our parents, but we are Slytherins. Just like you, remember? These people will play on your weaknesses if they find out you have them. Especially for you, as you are, and I can't believe I have to say this again, the son of two famous Aurors!"

Harry nodded meekly, looking down at his lap. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"Right. Sorry. I..." he let his sentence trail off. _How am I going to tell mom and dad? A simple letter? 'Hi mom, hi dad. School's great, I've made a few new friends. Oh yeah, and I wouldn't know how Gryffindor Tower is because I'm in Slytherin. Who would've thought, huh?'_

Harry frowned, and moved the food on his plate around with his fork. _Whatever I do, I have to send a letter today. _He sighed again, and stood up. "I'll see you guys later." A prefect handed him a schedule on his way out, which he folded up and slipped into his robe pocket without looking at it.

He started when someone spoke directly behind him.

"Are you gonna be alright?"

He turned around, and smiled a bit when he saw the now familiar blonde boy standing there. "I just need to... think about everything a bit."

"We have half an hour until our first class. Want to take a stroll outside?"

Harry nodded, and they walked out the large front doors and into a crisp morning. They ambled around in silence for a few minutes before Harry spoke up. "What do you think your mum would do if you had been sorted into Gryffindor, or Hufflepuff?"

Draco frowned a bit. "Probably... be disappointed, and surprised, but not angry. Maybe a little sensitive about it for a while, but not any extended period of time. Dear old dad would've probably crucio'd me for even thinking about it."

Harry looked down at his trainers. "That's terrible. My dad has been telling me what a perfect addition to Gryffindor I'd be for as long as I can remember. I don't think he even considered that I'd be in any other house," he glanced at Draco, "or befriend any of you guys." _I hope that wasn't insulting._

To his surprise, Draco smiled a bit. "I'm glad you did. Now, class will start soon, and we still need to get our books."

They walked back to the castle, chatting about what classes they had and which they were looking forward to.

*

That night, Harry sat down on his bed, set his bag down next to him on the bed, and pulled out some parchment and a self-inking quill. He stared at the parchment for what seemed like forever before Zabini plopped down in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"Writing a letter to my parents."

Zabini looked down at the blank parchment and then back up at Harry. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. How're you gonna break it to them?"

"I don't know," Harry told him, getting annoyed at this conversation. "I'll figure it out."

Zabini smirked and stood up. "Good luck with that, then."

Harry nodded, and drew his hangings closed, not wanting to be disturbed again. He set his quill on the parchment and wrote:

_Dear mom and dad,_

_School is great so far. The food is better than you described, the classes are just as hard, and the castle is amazing. I've made tons of new friends, and I'm in a dorm with five other boys. I don't really know how to put this, but I'm in Slytherin. They've been fine to me so far. No one seems to mind, and though I was disappointed about not being sorted into Gryffindor at first, I'm fine with it now. I hope you are too._

_Love,_

_Harry._

He stared down at it, reading and re-reading it over and over. Eventually, he gave up trying to re-word it, and rolled it up. He slid his hangings open and slipped back into his shoes. At Nott's questioning look, he held up his letter in explanation, and then stepped out of the door. He walked through the common room, and out into the corridor, checking the time as he walked. He only had twenty minutes to curfew; he needed to hurry if he wanted to get all the way to the Owelry and back in time. He set off at a brisk walk, pausing occasionally to make sure he was going the right way. He got lost four times on the way there, and when he finally made it, he was extremely relieved. He stepped into the Owelry and looked around, trying not to breathe in through his nose to much, as the smell was horrific. He called Helios down from where he was perched about halfway up the tower. He attached the letter to his leg, and sent him off. Harry didn't have time to watch Helios fly off, as he suspected it was already past curfew. He jogged through the halls, avoiding Prefects at all costs, not wanting a detention on his first day. He was walking down a staircase when someone yelled after him.

"Hey! You! What are you doing out of bed?"

He turned around and breathed a small sigh of relief. _It's just Percy._

"I was sending my mum and dad a letter and got lost on my way back to Slytherin."

Percy pursed his lips, nodding. "Alright, then. I'll let you off with a warning: don't go out near curfew if you don't know the castle well enough."

Harry nodded, and followed Percy through corridors and down flights of stairs until they reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room. He thanked Percy and entered his house again, walking straight to his dorm. He smiled at his roommates, and then shut himself in his bed again, changing into pajamas before climbing into bed. _Now to just see their reaction._

*

When Harry woke the next morning, he was still feeling nervous and uneasy. He was jittery all morning, talking about anything and everything to try and relieve some of his stress. It wasn't until Draco told him to "please shut up, I'm not a morning person." that he was quiet.

When they arrived at breakfast, Harry didn't think he could eat anything, for fear of throwing it all up soon after. When the post came, and a letter dropped onto his empty plate, he stared down at it for a minute before he picked it up slowly, flipped it over, and opened it. The message was fairly short.

_Harry,_

_You know that no matter what we'll love you. Though it was a slight shock, we do not think any less of you than we did before._

_-Mom and Dad_

Harry let out a small sigh of relief, but something was still nagging him. After a few seconds of confusion, he realized what it was._ It was all in Mom's handwriting. No little note at the end from dad, like always. _Harry's mind flashed back to dinner a little over two weeks ago. He was sure he had heard his father say, "As long as it's not Slytherin." He handed the letter to Draco, who read it quickly, nodding.

"They're fine with it."

Harry told him of his dad's customary little notes, and the comment he had heard. That made Draco frown slightly.

"He's probably just having a slightly harder time than your mother. He's not going to disown you or anything, don't worry."

Harry nodded. He knew that his father would not be upset with him._ I hope._

*

By Friday morning, Harry was thoroughly worn out. His classes had been more taxing than he had anticipated, and his teachers were not joking around with the amount of homework they were shoving on them. McGonagall was so strict that she didn't even give her own house any breaks, and loved to assign long, grueling assignments. Flitwick was just too cheery and squeaky and small for Harry. Binns was the most boring person Harry had ever met. He was so boring that Harry had fallen asleep halfway through the first class. Quirell was just bizarre, and his class was a complete joke. Harry's parents had shown him all the things they'd done in his class when Harry was eight.

Harry was infatuated with the castle and the grounds, though. He loved the way the staircases sometimes moved, even if it made him late for his next class. He loved the hidden corridors, talking portraits, and fake doors.

Harry found himself growing closer and closer to his Slytherin friends, and farther and farther away from the friends he had before Hogwarts, mainly due to the fact that he was avoiding them, Ron especially. Though he had not had a confrontation with the red-head yet, he knew one was coming by the amount of glares sent his way at mealtimes.

*

When Harry walked to his first ever Potions class on Friday, he knew this would probably be one of his least favorite classes thus far. He had Double Potions with the Gryffindors. And Snape, who he knew didn't like him at all. For what reason, he did not know. But everytime he had seen the man he had been glared at, frowned at, something unpleasant. Harry didn't think that being in Slytherin would help him very much, if at all, though Snape was now his head of house. He was waiting outside the Potions room, talking to Draco, and was feeling alright.

That is, until Ron showed up.

Ron walked right up to Harry, a tall black boy Harry recalled being called Dean Thomas, and an Irish boy named Seamus Finnegan behind him. The latter two both looked slightly uneasy.

"Harry!You've been avoiding me. For _Slytherin_?"

"Yes, Ron. Slytherin. I was sorted into Slytherin."

Ron's chest was heaving slightly. "Why?"

"I don't know! Ask the bloody hat!"

Ron was shaking his head. "You should have asked it to put you into Gryffindor. It would!"

"I'm sorry, alright? Not my fault."

"I don't know how you can stand it in that... snake pit."

Draco snorted softly. Ron snarled at him, "And this little brat is no better than his father, no matter what he says."

Harry frowned. Draco and Blaise had been slightly cruel to the Gryffindors in general, but inter-house animosity was normal, and he didn't think they weren't over-doing it. Just tripping jinxes, things like that. Harry hung back with Theo and Pansy when this happened, trying to stay out of sight of the Gryffindors.

"Ron! Draco is my friend!"

"Oh, so it's_ Draco_ now? What's next? _My dear Dray_?"

Harry glared at him. "If all you Gryffindors do is judge people by their parents, insult them, then I'm glad I'm not in Gryffindor."

Ron mouth dropped open. "I don't know you anymore. I won't be a friend with a Slytherin, Potter."

Harry didn't miss the deliberate use of his last name. "Maybe that's a good thing, Weasley."

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment Professor Snape's footfalls echoed down the corridor, and everyone scrambled into the classroom, Harry getting an extra hard shove from Ron when they were passing through the doorway. He followed Draco to the front of the room, where they sat at the desk in the front row on the left side of the room. Pansy kept shooting Harry concerned looks, which Harry promptly ignored. Snape swept into the room, and Harry had to suppress a laugh. Fred and George were always talking about how Snape loved to make dramatic entrances. It seemed like it was true. The potions master walked to the front of the room and surveyed the class. Snape took roll, calling out each student's name in turn. When he reached Harry's name he paused a moment and his black eyes flicked up, curious yet cold. He continued on, and once he was down he looked up at them.

Harry listened as Snape explained that there would be little "foolish wand-waving" and that he could teach them to do things like "bottle fame", "brew glory" and "put a stopper in death". Harry almost rolled his eyes. He would have to tell the Weasley twins that they were exactly right, and that Snape should be an actor or something.

When Snape had finished his speech, no one spoke for several moments.

"Potter!" Snape called suddenly, making Harry start slightly. He looked up. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry thought for a second, then said, "I believe that would be the Draught of Living Death, sir." Thanks to two weeks locked in his room with his books, Harry had read through some of them. It seemed that it had payed off after all. Snape nodded tightly.

"Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"The stomach of a goat, sir."

Again Snape gave a single nod.

"And, what is the difference between moonshood and wolfsbane?"

Harry racked his brain for the answer, trying to remember everything he could about moonshood and wolfsbane. _Difference? There is no difference... Oh._

Just as Snape opened his mouth to, no doubt, reprimand Harry for not knowing, Harry said, "There is no difference. They're the same plant, sir."

Snape snapped his mouth shut with an audible snap. Harry tried not to smirk, and just barely held it in.

Shortly after they had started brewing their boil curing potion there was a loud explosion from the back of the room. Harry turned around just in time to see people yelping and standing on their stools. Harry looked down and saw a toxic orange liquid running toward them. He nudged Draco and they both sat on their table with their feet on their stools while Snape yelled at Longbottom, who was screaming and covered in painful looking boils. Snape ordered Finnegan to take Longbottom to the Hospital Wing, and Harry and Draco snickered to each other when Snape yelled at Ron and Thomas for not stopping him. Harry was finding it much easier to make fun of Ron now that were on bad terms.

*

Before Harry knew it, another week had gone by. He had gotten used to the way things worked, his schedule, his teachers. He had received no more letters from his parents, and had no more confrontations with Ron, though glares were a constant with them. He had fallen into a routine, and was quite content with it.

He was very confused when he woke up at two in the morning to someone screaming and sobbing.

:::

**Cliffhanger! Kind of.**

**Review?**


	5. Chapter Four

**Thanks again to all of the reviewers and watchers! You make me so happy. :)**

**Disclaimer: I, regrettably, do not own Harry Potter. Any bits of dialogue taken from the books are not owned by me.**

**Warning: Contains SLASH. Male/male relationships! You have been warned.**

:::

Harry opened his hangings in a panic to see that nobody else had woken up by the noise, or if they had they were letting someone else deal with it. Harry listened intently. Though the screaming had stopped, there were still small sobs and whimpering coming from somewhere. He hopped out of bed, pulled on some socks, and walked in the direction the noises were coming from. He was surprised when he realized they were emanating from the bed directly to the left of his- Draco's bed. He frowned, and gently tugged the curtains open. Sure enough, there was Draco, curled into a ball with his back to Harry, and shaking slightly. Harry reached out, climbing on the bed, and put a hand on the other boy's shoulder.

Draco immediately stiffened, having not heard Harry coming, and didn't relax until Harry murmured a soft, "Are you okay?" from behind him. The blonde shook his head the smallest bit.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Another small shake.

Draco was slightly confused when he heard his hangings behind closed, but did not hear Harry leave. A moment later he felt arms wrap around him from behind. He frowned, but the warmth was nice, so he let himself slip back into, hopefully peaceful, sleep.

*

That morning, Harry awoke to find he couldn't move his left arm. He soon realized that was due to the fact that someone was lying on top of it. He opened his eyes, and saw a mess of blonde hair.

_Oh... right._

He extracted his arm as gently as he could, and left the other boy's bed, drawing the curtains shut behind him. He turned around, and was on his way back to his bed when a voice stopped him.

"Potter? Were you in Draco's _bed_?"

Harry turned, cursing silently. "Mmhmm."

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"He was screaming last night, and I went over to his bed to see what was wrong..."

Blaise snorted, the eyebrow still up.

"I think he had a nightmare or something."

A small bit of understanding flitted across Blaise's face. "About his father?"

"I don't know. He didn't tell me."

Blaise nodded slowly. "He doesn't have them often, but he's told me they're really terrible."

"It sounded like it. I'm surprised all of Slytherin didn't wake up from how loud he was."

Blaise nodded again, then tilted his head to the side a little bit, and asked, "Why are you up so early?"

"I always get up around this time. What about you?"

"I woke up half an hour ago and couldn't fall back asleep."

"Oh. It's finally the weekend, though." He grinned.

"I know," Blaise grinned back. "And I've been thinking... we haven't done anything big to the Gryffindors yet. Draco's bound to be in a bad mood when he wakes up, and it should cheer him up considerably."

Harry's stomach jolted a little at this, but he smirked a little. "What did you have in mind?"

Blaise beckoned him over with one hand, and they set to plotting.

*

After a morning full of planning the demise of the Gryffindors with Blaise, Harry was hungry. He was amazed that with the amount of noise they were making; laughing, rejecting and accepting ideas they hadn't woken their dorm mates up yet.

"So, Zabini, we'll need five people, a spell to enlarge things, a spider, a broom, a diversion, and my cloak, right?

"Yup. Potter, this is genius!"

"You can call me Harry," Harry told him.

Blaise gave him an odd look. "Alright, then. I suppose you can call me Blaise."

Harry smiled at him, and then went back to the list of supplies. "Obviously, we have you and I, Draco, and Theo. We'll need one more person..."

"What about Pansy?"

"Oh, yeah! Right. I forgot about her."

"She would kill you if she heard you say that."

Harry smiled. It was true, Pansy was insane when it came to her friendships.

"We'll need to tell them about the plan."

"What plan?" Theo had apparently just woken up and was looking over at them, bleary-eyed.

"Harry and I have come up with the perfect plan to get the Gryffindors."

Theo grinned. "What is it?"

"We'll tell you once Draco is up."

Theo nodded, shuffling to the bathroom.

"How about I go get us some breakfast and you get Draco up?" Harry asked Blaise, who nodded. Harry took off his pajamas, and threw on some trousers and a shirt, not bothering with his robes since they didn't have class.

He exited the dormitory, walking through the common room, and out the portrait hole, heading toward the Great Hall. He smiled to himself. Their plan really was perfect, and he would enjoy seeing the look on the Gryffindor's faces when they realized what had happened. He stepped into the Great Hall and off to the Slytherin table, nodding at the few people there before loading a napkin up with a ;large stack of toast, some fruit, five muffins, and five cinnamon buns. He was having trouble carrying the food, and almost dropped it several times on the way back to his dorm. He got some odd looks, but ignored them. He was just about to step into the boy's dorms when he realized he should probably get Pansy. He took one step on the girl's side and then slipped when it turned into a slide. He, luckily, did not lose any of the food, but was wondering how he was supposed to get her. He decided on just yelling. "Pansy! Pansy! Pansy!"

He was surprised when an older girl called down, "Who do you need?"

"Umm, Pansy Parkinson! The first year!"

He waited patiently at the bottom of the slide, thinking. Even though he had been plotting all day, he hadn't forgotten last night. _I'll have to ask Draco about it later,_ he decided. Pansy then came sliding down. She smiled at him. "Harry! To what do I owe the pleasure so early on a Saturday?"

"It's not that early, Pansy. It's already nine."

"Yeah, like I said, early."

Harry rolled his eyes, but grinned a second later. "Blaise and I came up with the perfect plan this morning, and we were going to tell you guys about it."

Pansy laughed. "That's awesome! Let's go!"

Harry rolled his eyes, but followed the now skipping girl to his dormitory. When they reached the door, they heard muffled yelling. Pansy looked up at him, eyes slightly wide. Harry shrugged and opened the door. He had to hod in his laughter when he saw what was going on. Blaise and Theo were holding pillows in front of them, hiding behind Theo's bed. They were looking toward Draco's bed, where an apparently furious Draco was pointing his wand at them, shouting about how he didn't like being woken up when he didn't have to be. When Pansy stepped in, she didn't bother holding it in, and her giggles broke out over the yelling. Draco rounded on them, and his eyes narrowed.

"You told them to wake me up!"

Harry blinked innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do! You told these... barbarians to pour cold water on me to wake me up!"

Harry's mouth dropped open. "You didn't," he said to Blaise.

"I did."

"Why?" Harry laughed.

"You said to wake him up! You didn't say how."

"You are evil."

Blaise smiled. "I know."

Draco was still angry, and he brought their attention back to him by saying, "I'm still mad! That was completely uncalled for." he pouted. Pansy "awwed" and ran over to him, enveloping him in a hug. The other three boys exchanged looks and rolled their eyes.

"Well," Harry said, "if you're done moping about, we have a plan to discuss and breakfast to eat."

Draco shot him a look, but wrapped a blanket around himself anyway and sat on the floor, where the rest of them joined him. They sat in a circle around the food, and ate.

"So what's this grand plan of yours?" Pansy asked.

"Wait," Blaise said, casting a suspicious look over at Crabbe and Goyle's beds. Harry hadn't payed very much attention to them, as they weren't very bright and no one seemed to like them. They usually just stuck together. Blaise cast a quick silencing charm around their beds, and then turned back to Pansy.

"So. What's the plan?" Pansy asked again.

"And how is it going to be humiliating?" Draco added, his temper having settled down.

Harry smirked. "Well, Weasley's scared of spiders, and I know for a fact that Longbottom has a diary."

*

Harry was under his father's old invisibility cloak for the first time since obtaining it, with Draco and Pansy. They were going to sneak into the first year Gryffindor boy's dormitory. Pansy was holding a glass jar that contained a large, hairy spider. Though Draco claimed he wasn't scared of spiders, he was just "not fond of them", he kept shooting the jar odd looks. Harry found it quite amusing.

They made their way through the halls and up several flights of stairs, following some older Gryffindor students in the direction of what they hoped was their common room. They had started following the Gryffindors at the entrance to the Great Hall- where lunch was currently taking place. They had made sure that all of the first year Gryffindors were at lunch before they had headed off under the cloak. After several moments of staircases and hallways, they reached a large portrait containing a rather large woman. They were surprised when one of the older students spoke to it, saying, "Caput Draconis" and were even more surprised when the lady smiled and the portrait opened, letting the Gryffindors scurry through the opening. Harry, Draco, and Pansy managed to just get through when it slammed shut behind them. They stood up, making sure they were covered completely with the cloak, and then looked up. They were in a large, very warm-looking room decorated with lots of reds and gold- _definitely the Gryffindor common room_, Harry thought, snickering slightly when Draco made a gagging motion with his hand. Harry nodded toward a doorway on the right side of the room, where a few of the boys that they had followed were walking up the stairs. They walked quietly toward it, making sure to stay hidden and not bump into anything. They crept up the steps, and soon came to a door labeled, "First Years". Harry grinned at his companions This had been too easy. He turned the handle, and they stepped into the room slowly, Pansy closing the door behind them. Harry was tempted to shout out in triumph, but that would have to wait until later. They pulled the cloak off and Harry stuffed it into the bag he had brought. He sent Draco and Pansy to search Weasley, Thomas, and Finnegan's beds while he looked for Neville's journal. He felt a twinge of guilt go through him at that thought. Sure, the idea to get Neville's diary had come from him, but he hadn't really thought about it much. He shook his head. _I'm being silly. They deserve this. _He returned to his search.

A few moments later, he heard a small cry of surprise He spun around and saw Draco looking into a drawer, eyes wide. Harry jogged over, peeked in, and his eyes grew just as wide.

"Isn't he a little... young to be looking at this kind of stuff?" Draco finally got out.

Harry nodded. "Who's is this?" he asked, picking up the magazine delicately.

"Finnegan's."

Harry snorted. He seemed like the kind of guy who would have something like this at eleven years old.

"I wonder where he got it..."

"Probably an older student."

Pansy looked over then from her search of Thomas' things, and gasped when she saw what they were holding. "What are you doing with that?"

"It's not ours! It's Finnegan's!"

Pansy frowned. "Put it down. That's disgusting."

Harry complied, shoving it back into the drawer and sliding it closed. He stood up and walked back over to Neville's bed, opening his side table drawer, sifting through the things, but not finding the book. He leaned down to check under Neville's mattress when he heard voices outside the door. He looked up, and was horrified when the door opened. He didn't know whether or not to be glad that it wasn't who he thought it would be. He didn't know if this was worse.

"Fred," George said.

"Yes, George?" Fred replied.

"It looks like we've caught some sneaky little Slytherins in the act."

Harry glanced over at Pansy and Draco, who both looked like they were stunned in place, Pansy on Thomas' bed, rifling through a sketch book, and Draco still digging through Finnegan's drawers. Harry looked back over at the twins, feeling relief flood him when he saw they were grinning like mad men, which could only mean one thing: they were up to trouble as well. They addressed him.

"Harry, to what-"

"-do we owe the pleasure?"

Harry smiled. He loved it when they did that weird twin speaking thing. It was like they knew each other's thoughts.

"We're pulling a prank."

The twins grinned again. Harry's speaking seemed to have woken Draco and Pansy from their stupor, as they were both looking from Fred and George and back to Harry.

"A prank-"

"-you say?"

Harry nodded. "We're going to borrow some things, maybe set a giant spider or two loose- basic stuff."

"And Harry, if we may ask-"

"-how did you three get in here-"

"-without getting caught?"

Harry opened his bag and took out his cloak, wrapping it around himself. He saw looks of awe pass over Fred and George's faces, before they both grinned.

"Wicked," they said at the same time.

"I know." he took the cloak off, stowing it back in his bag.

"It would have been so much easier-"

"-all these years, if we'd had one of those."

Draco and Pansy were now looking slightly scared. Harry turned to them. "Fred and George don't care that we're doing this. As you can probably tell, they've done this sort of thing plenty of times."

The twins nodded, looking over at the two Slytherins.

"Make sure you don't get caught-"

"-and don't leave any evidence behind. We'll make sure no one comes up the stairs-"

"-for at least five more minutes so you can finish."

"Thanks, guys."

"Oh, George, I feel like they're our children! Following our orders-"

"-and getting trained by us! I know what you mean, Fred."

And with that, they nodded, and left.

"They are so odd," Pansy said after a moment.

"Brilliant, though, right?" Harry said. Draco just shook his head slightly and set back to his task. Harry was still smiling, and his smile only grew when he found Neville's journal at last- tucked in between the headboard and the mattress

"Yes! I found it! Alright, make sure everything looks just like we left it."

"I'm taking this," Pansy said, holding up the sketchbook. Harry nodded, and made sure Neville's bed looked just as it had when they had walked in. Draco and Pansy were doing the same, when Draco noticed the jar with the spider still inside. He let out a tiny yelp.

"I almost forgot about that thing! We need to make sure it gets in Weasley's stuff." Harry moved the jar over to Ron's bed as Pansy and Draco put the cloak back on. He unscrewed the jar top, dropping the spider onto the redhead's bed, and got back under the cloak, walking toward the door. When they were standing in the open doorway, Harry cast a growing charm on the spider, and they shut the door behind them, sniggering. They jogged down the staircase, and into the Gryffindor common room. They waited until someone left the room through the portrait hole, and followed them out. Once they had gotten several hallways away and down a few flights of stairs, Harry whipped the cloak off, whooping loudly.

"Yes! That was awesome! I just wish I could see the looks on their faces when they get in there."

Draco and Pansy agreed heartily, and they ambled their way down to the Great Hall, replaying the whole thing to each other softly, grinning ear-to-ear. Draco was half-way through describing how crazy the twins were when heard a call of, "Who let the snakes out?"

They looked up, seeing Ron, Finnegan, Thomas, and Longbottom standing there, jeering at them. Well, Ron was jeering. The other three just kind of glared.

Harry, Pansy, and Draco couldn't stop the grins that spread across their faces.

"What's so funny, Potter?" Ron asked viciously, stepping closer. It was then that Harry noticed the small cut on his lip and the black eye that was forming. _Apparently Blaise and Theo did their jobs well._

"Oh, nothing, Weasley. Just remembering something I read not too long ago."

He heard Draco snicker behind him.

"Shut your face, Malfoy."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Is that the best you can come up with, Weasley? It's a pretty _poor_ insult, if you ask me. Oh, but that would fit you just fine, wouldn't it?"

Ron's eyes darkened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing in particular. Or, nothing that you could comprehend. Your education thus far has been pretty _poor_."

Ron snarled at him, his face contorting with rage. He lunged at them, and just barely missed punching Draco in the face when Thomas grabbed onto the back of his robes, pulling him back. Harry saw him whispering to Ron, apparently trying to calm him down.

Harry smirked. "Well, we would want to delay you getting back to your dorm, now would we? See you around, Weasley."

They walked around the Gryffindors and down the next staircase, smirking. When they were safely out of hearing distance, Harry turned to Pansy and Draco.

"Did you see his face?"

Pansy squealed with delight, jumping up and down a few times for good measure. "That was amazing!" Draco nodded his agreement, and they headed back down Slytherin. They walked straight into the boy's dorm and sat down on various beds, kicking Crabbe and Goyle out. Pansy and Draco started discussing assignments, and Harry sat down on his bed, letting his head fall back onto his pillow. He heard what sounded like a paper being crumpled, and he sat back up.

"What- oh."

He picked up the, now slightly crumpled, letter that had been lying on his pillow, opening it and smoothing it out.

_Harry,_

_Sorry about the lack of letters, sweetie. A new case has been taking up all of our time lately, and we literally haven't had a minute to write. How are your classes? We hope you've been staying out of trouble- we will know if you get a detention. That being said, make sure you're enjoying yourself. Write back soon._

_Love,_

_Mom&Dad_

Harry smiled sadly. His dad hadn't written anything again, but he knew how much time their work took. He had spent several days in a row with Sirius or Remus several times when his parents couldn't get home. Harry set the letter on his bedside table and tuned back in on the conversation

"...eat lunch today. I'm famished, Draco."

"Go eat, then! I'm not stopping you."

Pansy stood up, smoothing her skirt out. "You coming, Harry? I'm gonna go meet Blaise and Theo in the Great Hall for dinner."

"No, I'll come up later."

She frowned at him, and then turned and walked out of the room. Harry looked over at Draco, who was lying on his back in a way that was almost identical to how Harry was when he found his letter, but the blonde's eyes were closed. Harry stepped over to his bed, peering down at the other boy.

"Draco?"

His eyes opened quickly, looking up at Harry curiously.

"Hmm?"

"About last night... this morning, actually."

Draco frowned. "What about it?"

"Are you alright?"

Draco began to nod, stopped, and shook his head instead, moving his gaze away from Harry.

"Was it a nightmare?"

Draco nodded, still not meeting Harry's eyes.

"What was it about?"

No answer.

"Draco?"

The boy looked over and Harry was shocked to see fright in his grey eyes. He then said, in barely a whisper, "My father."

"When was the last time you saw him?" Harry asked, now sitting on the edge of Draco's bed, studying his hands.

"When I was five."

Harry nodded, not wanting to push him. After a few silent miutes, Draco spoke again.

minutes

"He crucio'd me when I was barely five."

Harry's head whipped up. "What?"

Draco nodded. "I... had given my mother a hug, and he said... he told me that emotions like love are weak, and a Malfoy is never weak. It's not allowed. I didn't really understand him very much, but... the unforgivable curses pretty much conveyed the message: this will not be tolerated."

Harry was stunned silent for a minute. Then, finally, "Oh my god, Draco."

Draco closed his eyes again, a slight frown on his face.

"I want to thank your parents one day."

Harry looked over at him in confusion. "My parents? But- why?"

"They locked my father away."

Harry opened his mouth to talk again, and then shut it. He didn't know what to say to that. Thankfully, he was saved from having to say anything, because at that moment Blaise, Theo, and Pansy walked in, talking loudly about something. Harry looked down at Draco and smiled a little before turning to the newcomers.

"So, how did your part go?"

Blaise grinned. "It was excellent."

*

Apparently, Blaise and Theo had prevented the Gryffindors from leaving by delaying both their beginning to eat and their leaving when they were done. They had cornered them afterwards, and had tossed insults around for a few minutes before punches were thrown.

Neville's diary was a laugh but had nothing of use in it, mostly just entries were comprised of, "Snape yelled at me today for blowing up something. Herbology was fun like always. Slytherins are evil." It was in Thomas' sketchbook that they found the interesting things. They found scarily accurate portraits of everyone in their year as well as a handful of the upper years and teachers. There were several of Longbottom and Ron, each from a different angle. There were an overwhelming amount of Finnegan, some colored, some black and white, some pencil, some pastel, some vague sketches, some full-blown portraits There was also a drawing of men in shorts, tall socks, and shoes with what looked like spikes on the bottom on a field with a ball. The words "West Ham" were written at the top of these pages in curly script. Occasionally, there would be a note or two on the margins or a title, but no other words. Though the pictures were interesting and nice to look at, Harry didn't really see the point of taking the book in the first place. He had asked Pansy when they had originally looked through it that night, but her only response was a shrug.

Their real reward came the morning after, when they entered the Great Hall to see Weasley looking pale, jumpy, and generally paranoid, Thomas and Longbottom wary, and Finnegan slightly confused. _Probably wondering if we took something of his too that he hasn't realized yet. _When they walked in, the four Gryffindors looked up and glared as one, almost like they knew it had been them. Harry smirked while Pansy blew them a kiss and winked. They had fun quoting Longbottom's diary at various points over the next week or so,

Draco didn't have any more nightmares, Harry got a few more letters, and his life continued on.

*

Harry grinned when he saw the notice about the first year's flying lessons. He, of course, already knew how to fly, and he was looking forward to showing off just a little bit.

:::

**Next time: Flying lessons and Christmas!**

**Review?**


	6. Chapter Five

**The new chapter 5. Not much of it is the same as it was before, as lines and paragraphs have been added here and there, and the ending has been drastically extended.**

**Disclaimer: I, regrettably, do not own Harry Potter. Any bits of dialogue taken from the books are not owned by me.**

**Warning: Contains SLASH. Male/male relationships! You have been warned.**

:::

Harry smirked at the Gryffindors from across the courtyard, shifting his grip on the school broom he was holding. The first years were waiting for Madam Hooch, the flying instructor, to show up to give them their first flying lesson. _Not that I need it. _He had been flying since before he could remember, and was not bad, if he could say so himself. He had been looking forward to this ever since the announcement had been posted. Another thing that could be used to possibly torment the Gryffindorks, a hobby that Harry was having a lot of fun participating in lately. Since the original prank, they had pulled several more, each one involving the cloak and the Gryffindors. Just last night, Harry and Draco had gotten caught in the hall once after curfew by Filch, the nasty caretaker, while Blaise and Pansy had the cloak. That had resulted in points taken from Slytherin and a detention. Harry was dreading the howler that was sure to arrive at dinner, and the detention itself. _Mum is going to be furious, _he thought for the hundredth time since initially getting the detention. He sighed, looking over at his best mate. The light glinted off Draco's hair in a way that Harry found almost... beautiful. Draco looked over then, having heard the sigh, and spoke to Harry.

"Your parents aren't going to get that angry over _one_ detention, Harry," he said, his ability to tell what Harry was worried about unparalleled

Harry just frowned, looking back over to the Gryffindors.

"You should be happy! Your father wrote a note at the end of the last letter, right?"

Harry nodded. His father had written a note, but it was a small one._ Still, at least it's there._

"Yeah, that only took him a good ten letters."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Your uncles- Sirius and Remus, correct?- wrote you as well!"

Harry smiled, thinking about that letter. Half Sirius' messy scrawl prattling on about the food and the girls and Snape being a git, and the other half Remus' loopy, thin writing advising him to stay out of trouble, but have fun.

Harry opened his mouth to reply when the rest of the group fell quiet. He looked up and saw Madam Hooch striding toward them, whistle around her neck and broom in hand.

"Well, what are you all waiting for? Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Harry moved so that he was standing in between Draco and Blaise, setting the broom back down on the ground. Next to him. He frowned at how old and beat up it looked; nothing like his Cleansweep Seven at home.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom, and say 'Up!'"

Harry did so, and grinned when his broom flew straight into his hand. He looked around and saw that Draco's had done the same, while Blaise's had only flopped around a bit. Harry listened halfheartedly as Madam Hooch demonstrated a proper grip and stance on the broom. She then walked up the row, commenting and fixing various grips. She frowned when she reached Draco.

"No, that's not right, weren't you listening?" she moved Draco's hands so that they were in correct form, before continuing on. Draco glared at her back, frowning.

"Now, when I bow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle -three-two-"

Before she could say 'one' Longbottom had shot off the ground and was rising steadily. Harry felt a slight twinge of fear for the boy- he knew how clumsy and scared he could get. He pushed the sensation away easily, though, and went back to watching. He winced slightly when Longbottom came careening back to the earth rapidly, falling through the sky, and landed with a loud noise. A moment later pained groans could be heard coming from the lump that was Neville. Madam Hooch jogged over to him, kneeling down.

"Broken wrist. Come on, boy- it's all right, up you get." She helped Longbottom up into a standing position, and then addressed the rest of the students.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear." With that, she walked away, arm around a sobbing Longbottom. Draco waited until they had entered the castle, and they snickered.

"His face was priceless! What an idiot."

Harry smirked, his eyes on Weasley, who was glaring over at them- not a rare occurrence- and snarling. He looked over to where Neville had taken off, and spotted something shiny. He was trying to figure out what it was when he felt Draco nudge him. He looked up, straight into the face of a snarling Weasley, who seemed to still be recovering from their prank last night. His hair was still bright green.

"Yes, Weasley?"

Ron narrowed his eyes. "What did you do to my hair?"

Harry blinked innocently "Whatever do you mean? It looks normal to me."

"I want it fixed."

"Well, you'll have to ask someone else, as I have no idea how it happened."

Ron's eyes narrowed further.

"I'll get you back for all the things you've done, Potter. One day, you're going down."

Harry just smiled. "Nice talking to you, too."

Ron hissed and turned away, stalking back over to his Gryffindor lackeys. Harry turned to Draco, who had a bemused expression on his face. Before Harry could ask what was so funny, Madam Hooch came strutting back on to the field.

"Now, class, back on your brooms!"

The rest of the class passed uneventfully, and soon enough they were back in the castle and on their way to dinner.

It wasn't until they were half way through eating that Harry remembered the thing he had seen shining in the grass. He finished his sandwich quickly, and excused himself from the Slytherin table without much explanation, telling his friends that he would meet them in class. He stepped out of the hall, and made his way to the courtyard where their lessons had been conducted, scanning the ground for the object. Finally, after five minutes of searching the area where Neville had fallen, he saw it glinting in the sun. He walked over, and crouched down, picking it up and examining it. He soon realized what it was. _A remembrall? _he thought. _Why would Neville have one of those? Though he is rather forgetful...__ I bet his gran sent it to him._ He stared into the cloudy white mist inside the ball for a moment longer before shoving it into the bottom of his bag and going to meet his friends.

As he had anticipated, that night at dinner he received a letter. Well, not just a letter. A howler. Harry stared down at it in shock when it first landed next to his plate. Draco looked over at him from his seat on Harry's left, and then nudged him, motioning for him to open it before it exploded on it's own. Harry picked it up with slightly shaking hands and tore it open, bracing himself for the shouts that were sure to come. He was surprised when he only heard his mother's stern voice reprimanding him. It was fairly loud, but not enough so to draw the attention of people sitting more than a few feet away from him. Five minutes later, and his mother's voice was still emanating from the red piece of paper. Harry was growing rapidly bored, and he could tell Theo was more than a little annoyed with it. He reached out to pluck it out of the air and crumple it up, but instead just yelped instead when it bit his fingers, growing louder with a, "don't you even try to cut this short, Harry James Potter. You deserve every second of this." He heard Blaise snicker from across the table, but just sighed wearily. Theo huffed in annoyance and stood, leaving the table and stalking out of the hall. His mother was still rambling on about responsibility and honor. After yet another annoyed sigh, he heard Pansy "oh!" and turned to see what she had figured out, for he knew by now that was her 'I-just-figured-something-out-that-I-should-have-known-before noise. She just shook her head impatiently and pulled out her wand, casting a silencing charm on the paper.

It, however, was having none of that.

"Harry James Potter! I am ashamed that you would even try to do such a thing as silence me! Did your father and I never teach you proper respect for your elders?"

His mother's voice grew another notch louder, and most of the Slytherins were shooting him annoyed looks. Some of the Ravenclaws at the table next to theirs were turning to see what the racket was about, and Draco gave the paper an exasperated look. A headache was starting to form in Harry's head. He would probably have to go see if Madam Pomfrey could give him something for that later.

It was starting to get late, and most of the students were ambling out of the Great Hall, no doubt on their way to their common rooms or somewhere similar before curfew. Harry, however, could not do that, as his mother's howler was _still talking._ Everytime he attempted to stop it in some way or even leave the hall, his mother's voice grew louder. Eventually, Harry decided to just wait it out._ It has to stop eventually, it can't just keep going forever... right?_

His friends had opted to stay with him instead of making him suffer on his own, which he was immensely grateful for, as it helped him try to ignore the prattling note, which was now shouting about good morals. They had been sitting at the table for a good hour at least, and everyone else had left the hall long ago. It was also probably far past curfew.

Harry had been banging his head against the table in pure frustration when he noticed something suddenly different. He looked up, and was relieved to see that the howler had finally fizzled out, turning to ash. Blaise then spoke up.

"I think that just won the record for longest howler _ever_."

Harry just nodded his agreement.

*

Harry didn't know where all the time went.

He had been having the time of his life at Hogwarts, though many of his nights had been interrupted by Draco's yells. Harry had taken to just waiting until his other roommates had fallen asleep and crawling into bed with the blonde, ignoring the protests that it was wholly unnecessary. He would often wake up in the morning wrapped up with the other boy, legs tangled and arms everywhere. One thing that bothered Harry, however, was that Draco never wanted to talk about his nightmares.

He was so busy with classes and everyday life that he was startled when he realized the holidays were already upon them. Before he knew it, he was packing his stuff and heading to the train.

Harry, Draco, Pansy, Blaise, and Theo found a compartment near the back of the train, and spent their entire ride home talking, eating candy, laughing, and just generally having a good time.

When the train finally came to a halt, Harry jumped up and grabbed his trunk, eager to see his parents. His father had started writing longer messages in the letters, and Harry hoped that meant he was over the whole "Slytherin" thing.

Apparently not.

Harry dragged his things over to his parents, his smile fading when his dad just patted him on the shoulder a few times, not saying anything except a "hello". He noticed the annoyed look his mum sent in James' direction, and wondered if they had argued over it. After a few moments of fairly awkward silence, Lily suggested they head to the car to go home. Harry nodded, happy to be doing something instead of just standing there. He slid into the seat across from his parents after stuffing his things into the trunk.

A tense, strained silence fell over the car.

After a moment or two, his mother turned to him. "So, sweetie, how was your first term at Hogwarts?"

Harry grinned, glad that they had something to talk about. "Great! I love it. The food is delicious."

Lily smiled. "How're Ron and Neville?"

"Oh, umm, I dunno. I haven't really talked to them much, never really see them."

Lily nodded. "You've made some new friends, right?" At Harry's nod, she continued, "Anyone we would know?"

"Probably not. There's Blaise Zabini," his mother nodded, "Theodore Nott," her smile became slightly forced, "Pansy Parkinson," her smile was even more forced, "and Draco Ma..." He stopped. Telling his parents that one of his friends was a Malfoy could not turn out well.

"Draco who, honey?"

"Umm. Malfoy."

His mother froze. "Malfoy?" she squeaked. His father's mouth was set in a very thin line, much like Professor McGonagall's when she was angry. A silence settled again.

*

Harry frowned at the red and gold of his room. _I'll have to ask mum to fix that later_, he thought, scrunching up his face at the colors and what they implied.

Harry walked down the stairs, pausing outside the door to the kitchen when he heard raised voices.

"A Zabini, a Nott, a Parkinson, and a _Malfoy_, Lily! Lucius Malfoy's son!"

"I know, James. We can't tell him he can't be friends with who he wants to. I don't see how this Draco boy could be like his father, he must have only been four or five the last time he had seen him. I'm no happier than you, but we have to be reasonable."

"Reasonable? I think I have been more than reasonable about him. First he's a Slytherin," he spat the word out with disgust, "and now he's best friends with a Malfoy? What did we do wrong raising him?"

"We did nothing wrong. He made the decisions. Why? I don't know. I just know that we raised him as well as we could. You need to see through his house for once! Since he's been sorted, you've been avoiding everything to do with him! He's still your son, James! You need to get over your old school rivalries and accept him for who he is, not shun him for what he isn't! Think about Sirius! Harry's in the same situation!"

"That's completely differ-" He heard his father start to say.

"No, it's not! Sirius was in a different house from his entire family, Harry is too! It's the same, just switched! Do you want our son running away when he's fifteen, too?"

Harry thought that James probably shook his head, because he heard his mother say, "Well, then, you need to start acting like an actual father."

Harry shifted from one foot to the other. _My dad is really that upset about this?_

"Now, Sirius and Remus will be arriving shortly, so I suggest you get ready."

Harry had barely scampered back onto the steps when the kitchen door flung open and James walked out, looking very moody. Harry stepped off the stairs once more and walked toward the kitchen, passing his father on the way. James looked up for an instant, and then quickly looked back down, walking past with his head slightly bent. Harry stopped and turned his head, watching James climb up the stairs. Once he had disappeared from sight, Harry entered the kitchen, immediately smelling his mother's delicious chocolate chip cookies. He looked around the spacious kitchen, spotting his mother standing with her back to him, leaning slightly over the sink. Harry knew that she stood like that when she was very stressed out or angry, so he decided to stay silent while she calmed down. He sat on one of the stools lining the counter, and let himself drift off into his thoughts.

He was thinking about his uncles, though they weren't technically uncles, and what they would act like when they saw him, when his mother spoke.

"Cookie, dear?"

Harry smiled slightly, picking one up off of the tray she was holding out to him from across the countertop. He nibbled on it absently while his mother set the plate down on the counter and glanced over at the oven, where dinner was baking. She didn't like to cook by magic unless they were short on time, as she liked cooking and said magical food "tastes like magic". Harry had never really understood what she meant by that.

"Harry?" his mother called. He turned his gaze to her, tilting his head to the side a little.

"Yes?"

"Your father is just having difficulty coming to terms with your house. He'll get over it soon. You don't need to worry about anything."

Harry smiled at her while she ran a loving hand through his hair.

"I know. I just don't like being the cause of so much... stress."

Lily shook her head, and then seemed to sober up slightly.

"You need to go and get ready for Remus and Sirius. We can't have you looking like you slept in your clothes for their visit."

"It's not like they haven't seen it before, mum. They're over here about four times a week."

"Harry James Potter," his mother said, one eyebrow raised and a stern look directed at him. "Go make yourself more presentable. And do try to do something about your hair."

Harry grinned, but didn't say anything, jogging out of the large room and up the stairs. He walked down the hall and into his room, wincing again at the color scheme, and stepped over to his dresser, jerking a drawer open and rifling through the contents. He knew his mother would probably want him in nice robes, but he much preferred muggle clothing and knew his uncles wouldn't mind. He pulled on a fresh pair of trousers and a new, dark gray shirt and then flopped down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

Harry raced down the steps when he heard Sirius and Remus stepping out of the Floo. He rounded the corner, and immediately sprang on the men, hugging them tightly. Remus chuckled, as did Sirius, and they both hugged him back. Harry hadn't realized how much he had missed them until then.

"Harry! Hogwarts is amazing then, huh?" Sirius asked him once they had broken apart.

"Yes! I love it there." Harry grinned up at the man. He was glad he didn't seem to care about his house, but then again, as Lily had pointed out, they really were in the same situation.

"I knew you would. Now tell me about these pranks your mother has been telling me you've been getting in trouble for."

"I only got a detention once, and the howler was enough to make me be sure not to get c-" at his mother's sharp look, he changed his sentence around, "not to do anything bad ever again."

Sirius snickered quietly, and gave him a look that told him they'd talk later. Harry smiled back. He really loved his godfather. He seemed to have to perfect balance of recklessness and support that Harry needed. He had always felt like he could talk to Sirius about _anything_. Not that Remus wasn't a perfect uncle, but he felt a certain connection to Sirius.

*

Dinner passed quickly, and soon enough Sirius had dismissed himself and Harry from the table so that they could talk. Once they were comfortably sitting upon Harry's now silver and green bedspread, for Sirius had changed it without so much as a word, Sirius once again asked about his going-ons at Hogwarts.

"Well, it's obviously been perfect. Better than I could have thought." Harry grinned.

"What about this whole Ron situation I heard about?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. "He's a prat." At Sirius' questioning look, Harry went on. "He told me he couldn't be friends with a Slytherin."

Sirius frowned, and then looked away, somewhere across the room. "Sometimes I think it would be better to just not have houses. They cause so many problems."

Harry nodded his agreement. "I am sort of glad for it, though. I met some really great friends."

"Really? Like who?"

Harry opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it. He remained silent for a few seconds before answering, "Don't freak out at any of the names I tell you. They're not their parents." Sirius nodded. "Well, I'm not friends with either of these two, but I share a room with Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. They're just idiots, really. There's Theodore Nott, he's really smart and easily annoyed. Pansy Parkinson, she's freakishly protective of her friends. Blaise Zabini... I dunno how to describe him. He seems so much older than he actually is. And then, Draco Malfoy. He's closer than all of the friends I had before Hogwarts combined." He looked down after his long speech, waiting for his godfather's reaction.

"Hmm," was all he said. Harry looked up to see Sirius looking thoughtful. Harry didn't get to ask him to elaborate, however, because his mother yelled up at that moment that Sirius and Remus had to go home now. Sirius rolled his eyes, but they left the room anyway, stepping down the stairs and stopping outside of the fireplace. Harry hugged his uncles, said his goodbyes, and watched as two of his favorite people in the world vanished in the Floo.

:::

**Better, right? I think so, anyways.**

**Review?**


	7. Chapter Six

**Note: This chapter will make absolutely no sense at all if you don't go back and read chapter five again, which has been extended and severely edited.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed. (: Much love goes out to all of you, as always!**

**Ahh, so... insert pathetic excuses as to why I haven't updated. Very, very sorry!**

**Disclaimer: I, regrettably, do not own Harry Potter. Any bits of dialogue taken from the books are not owned by me.**

**Warning: Contains SLASH. Male/male relationships! You have been warned.**

:::

Harry groaned in annoyance when his mother woke him, talking about Diagon Alley and shopping. _Oh, right, Christmas presents. Of course._ He begrudgingly got out of bed and got dressed, eventually making it down to the kitchen where his mother had breakfast already laid out on the table. He took a large portion of the food and started shoving it in his mouth, not really paying attention to what he was consuming. When he was about half way finished, he heard the kitchen door swing open. He looked up smiling, expecting to see his mother. His smile faltered a little when he saw it wasn't his mother, but his father. James saw him, and walked over to the table, sitting down across from him.

"Harry?"

Harry looked up.

"Err- I'm sorry about the fuss over your house and everything. It's just, umm, not what I was expecting. I just wanted you to know that I have no problem with it and still love you very much." He said all of this in a rush, but Harry heard every word. He smiled.

"Thanks, dad."

*

Harry Potter was angry.

Did his parents not understand that he was no longer friends with Ron? Apparently not, as they were forcing (yes, _forcing_!) him to attend the annual Weasley Christmas Eve dinner. Usually, he would've been very excited to go; Mrs. Weasley was an amazing cook, but not this year. He would give up delicious food to not be required to spend a couple of hours in the company of Gryffindors.

Not to mention the fact that they had made him get a Christmas present for the red-head and Longbottom, which cut his budget down for the presents for his _actual_ friends. In the end, he had gotten the two Gryffindors the least expensive things his parents had let him buy for them- a small bag of chocolate. He had intentionally gotten Neville one with walnuts, and Ron a dark chocolate bag, because he knew they didn't like those kinds. He had gotten Pansy a book titled _1001 Useful Charms_ and a slim, modest journal, Blaise a new portable wizard's chess set, Theo a giant tome with a title in Latin that he couldn't read, and Draco both a fancy Potions kit and a small stuffed snake, with a card reading, "I know you won't be able to survive without someone sleeping in your bed with you. Merry Christmas, Harry." Harry could visualize the look of pure horror that would be on Draco's face when he opened that.

He had ended up with a little extra money, and eventually, after much consideration, decided to buy Fred and George something. They were like older brothers to him. He had decided upon a spread of Zonko's products, and had even bought Percy a new quill and color-changing ink. That was yesterday. Today, however, was Christmas Eve, and his mood had seen better days.

"Harry, are you ready?" his mother asked him, breaking him out of his thoughts. She walked into the room, gathering the last few things they were bringing.

"Yes," he told her, standing up and smoothing a hand over his winter cloak, attempting to flatten it out a little. He grabbed the packages he was bringing and stepped over to the fireplace. He threw a handful of the green Floo powder into the fire and stepped in. He shouted "The Burrow!" and felt the familiar, albeit unpleasant, sensation, finally coming to a halt.

Harry stepped out of the fireplace and looked around, unable to suppress the smile on his face at the memories this house contained for him. He inhaled, and his mouth watered at the smell of Mrs. Weasley's cooking. He heard footsteps racing down the stairs, and frowned when he heard the last Weasley he wanted to see yell to his mother, "Mum! I think Nev's here!" Said Weasley git then ran into the living room, where Harry was brushing the soot off of his cloak. The red-head's face fell when he saw that it was not Neville, but Harry.

"Oh," he said, his face now set in a scowl, "It's just you."

Harry nodded once, his expression blank. They stood in a tense, uncomfortable silence until Harry's parents came whooshing out of the Floo, all smiles and greetings to the Gryffindor boy. Ron smiled back at them, telling them his parents were in the kitchen. A moment later and they had move on through the doorway and the silence fell again. Harry rolled his eyes and moved toward the doorway.

"If you've got nothing to say, Weasley, the I'm going to find better company."

Ron's scowl deepened, but he stomped through the doorway anyway, letting Harry through. Harry walked into the hallway, and decided to say hello to Fred and George. He stepped up the stairs, coming to a halt outside the twin's door. He knocked cautiously, listening for any sounds. _Maybe they're off somewhere else_, he thought when there was no response for several moments. He was just about to go and try to find him in the house when the door swung open to reveal both twins grinning at him, wearing identical outfits of all black. Harry's eyebrows rose, a habit he had picked up from his Slytherin friends (all of them seems to do it, maybe it was some kind of house trait?), and was about to ask what they were wearing that for when each twin grabbed one of his arms and yanked him inside their room, shutting the door behind him.

"What the-?" Harry started, but a hand was clamped down over his mouth, preventing him from making any noise other that unintelligible grunts.

"Harry," one of the twins, Harry thought it was George, but one could never be one hundred percent sure, "how nice it is to see you."

Harry grunted.

"I suppose you're wondering about our current attire, yes?" The other twin asked. Harry nodded.

"We were actually on our way-"

"-to kidnap you."

Harry's brow furrowed. _Kidnap?_

Fred (maybe) grinned at him. "We figured you would have begged to stay home."

"But we just couldn't have our favorite Slytherin not here, now could we?"

"And this whole thing will be so much easier now."

Harry tried to ask them what "this whole thing" was, but the hand was still over his mouth. He stuck his tongue out and licked the palm, causing whoever's hand it was to fall away. Both twins were now laughing hysterically, and Harry was starting to get slightly annoyed.

"Oi!" he practically shouted. "What are you two going on about, then?"

"Why our dear Slytherin-"

"-this year's dinner would be as boring-"

"-dull-"

"-mundane-"

"-and just overall _normal_ if we hadn't planned something."

"So... what exactly is this plan of yours?" Harry asked, genuinely curious. If Fred and George had come up with it, it was no doubt brilliant.

One of the twins pulled out a bottle of something that looked suspiciously like alcohol. Harry eyed it warily. "What is that for?"

"The hot chocolate-"

"-gives it some more flavor."

Harry shook his head. "You are not getting me drunk."

"Of course we aren't. It the parents-"

"-we're getting drunk. Let's see what they-"

"-really think about you being in Slytherin, yeah?"

"Alright. I still don't see how this involves me."

"We need you-"

"-to distract the parents for us."

Harry shrugged. "I should be able to do that."

Fred and George grinned at him, and looked ready to go head forth with their plan when Harry stopped them. "Hey, this seems pretty mediocre compared to what you guys usually do."

They looked at him. "Oh, how you underestimate us, Harry." They said at the same time. Harry frowned, but followed them out of the door anyway.

When Harry and the twins rounded the corner of the stairs, the house was swarming with people. Usually it was only the Potters, the Longbottoms, the Weasleys, Sirius and Remus. This year it looked as though it had expanded tremendously Harry saw the Lovegoods, Lee Jordan, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, an upper year prefect that he sort of recognized, and, to his horror, Professor McGonagall. He sighed. It looked as though he was the only Slytherin in the entire house, which was saying a lot. Fred nudged him with his arm, giving him a look that said, "distraction?" Harry nodded, looking much more confident than he felt. If it had only been the usual parents his task would have been easy, but this... this was something else entirely. There was no way he could possibly distract everybody at once. Luckily, his mother unknowingly saved him by choosing that moment to stand up and tap on her glass lightly.

"Attention! Attention, everyone! James and I have an announcement to make."

Dread settled in Harry's stomach, and he immediately forgot his relief. _Are they having a baby? Am I going to be a brother? _He asked himself silently, mentally panicking. He didn't want a sibling. He was fine with Fred and George. He had told his parents that a few years ago when they asked him about it. They nodded and seemed to have expected that, and been fine with it, but apparently they had decided to have another anyways. _Why didn't they tell me?_

"We're moving next summer."

Harry sighed in relief as he let that sink in, which was hard to do when Mrs. Weasley was screaming in glee while at the same time chastising them about making her think Lily was pregnant again.

Dinner was a fairly awkward affair, as he was squished in between Seamus Finnegan and Neville Longbottom, but the food was delicious anyway, and dessert was heavenly.

As the night went on, the adults got steadily drunker and drunker, and the ones too young to drink got more and more entertained because of it. Once they were well on their was to being completely smashed, one of them shooed the kids out, shutting and locking the doors behind them. The children were all very put out by this, at least until they had realized that whoever had kicked them out hadn't silenced the door and they could hear the adults perfectly. They all crowded around the large doors, listening to the conversation going on inside.

"Whoo!" Someone who sounded disturbingly like McGonagall shouted suddenly.

"Minnie, Minnie, Minnie, sit down, please!" _Minnie? _Harry thought, horrified. _I have just been scarred for life._ He turned to Fred and George, still not really getting what he'd 'underestimated' about this. He then heard someone who sounded like Neville's grandmother say his name, and he listened harder.

"James, Lily, so, Harry's in Slytherin, eh? How'd that happen?"

Most of the heads in the hallway turned to him, making his face flush. He heard his father answer, "No idea, no idea at all. It was a shock! Not a very pleasant one, either, if you know what I mean."

He could hear the slight slur of his father's voice that mean he was very much drunk.

"Yes, I was very proud when Neville became a Gryffindor! So brave, that boy! A bit useless now and then, but still... I don't know what I would have done if he was in Slytherin! You-Know-Who's old house, almost all of the Death Eaters... bad lot, them Slytherins." Harry glanced at Neville, and smirked to himself when he saw that the boy's face was practically on fire.

"Now, let's not get carried away, here," his mother's voice spoke up. "I was no happier that anyone here when he got sorted there, but that doesn't mean that he will be evil! He's a sweet boy, very sweet."

"Ohoho, of course not! Didn't mean to imply... but, friends with a Malfoy, I hear!"

"Yes, yes." James spoke again, "Very disappointed with that. I still haven't gotten over the whole thing. I'm quite ashamed, and it's not as though I want Harry to be associating with that boy, not at all! I would forbid it if I could. Dangerous family..."

Mr. Weasley's voice came in. "Very dangerous! Terrible people, that entire family! And Harry- we thought he knew what was best, you should hear the things Ron owls us about! Horrid, really." Harry shot a glare over at Ron, who returned it with full force.

Sirius spoke up here, and his voice was much more slurred than the others. "My godson is not a bad person!"

"He very well might be! Associating with those kinds of people, that house, pulling pranks left and right, sneaking about!" Mr. Weasley said in a way that Harry didn't think he could unless he was drunk. Harry motioned the twins over. They nodded and appeared a few moments later, one on either side of him.

"Yes?" they asked simultaneously.

"I'm not getting what you two did. Sounds like they're just drunk."

The twin on his left grinned at him. "You honestly don't know?" Harry shook his head, and the other twin grinned. "We put a virtually undetectable truth-telling potion in the alcohol."

Harry looked at them, and blinked. "That's it?" he asked.

The grins immediately fell off of both of the faces. "Well, yes. We didn't have much time to put something together."

Harry frowned at them.

"Oh, stop it with the frowns, will you!" One of them said to him, exasperated. A grin broke out over his face.

"I'm just saying that's it's not up to your usual."

Both of the boys looked very put out by this assessment. "We thought you'd appreciate knowing what your parents actually think about your house."

Harry smiled at them. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks, then."

The twins nodded to him and then crept off. Harry decided that he didn't near to hear anymore of the adult's tipsy rambling, and decided to take a walk in the garden to digest what he'd heard.

_I guess they're not really okay with it_, he thought sullenly, staring down at the walkway, not watching where he was going. A moment later, he was sprawled on top of another body, not knowing how it had happened. He looked down, flustered, and saw Dean Thomas squinting up at him.

"Oh, er- sorry, wasn't paying attention to where I was going." Harry sputtered, rolling off the other boy and getting to his feet. The other boy didn't say anything, just sat up and stared at him. After a few moments of this, Harry started to get slightly fidgety from the stare. "Umm, do you need help getting up, or...?" Harry asked him. Dean shook his head lightly, letting his back drop back down on the grass, staring up at the sky.

"Right then, I'll just be going, I suppose..."

Harry started to walk in the opposite direction, but his attention was pulled back to the other boy when he spoke.

"It's really a beautiful night tonight."

Harry turned and looked at him, still laying on his back and staring up. "Yeah..." Harry said slowly. There was something weird about this Gryffindor, just staring at the sky... Harry looked up, and was surprised to see that it was actually very beautiful, so many bright stars contrasting with the black of the sky. He sat down a few feet away from the Gryffindor, laying on his back as well, letting his thoughts roam. It wasn't until he spoke that Harry even realized there was another person now with them, in between himself and Dean.

"I never really got any of those poetic sayings about the stars at night."

Harry looked to his left, and saw the sandy-haired Irishman who had just spoken grinning up at nothing. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything, choosing instead to look back at the sky. A moment later, Dean spoke again.

"Seamus? Did you leave Ron inside alone?"

"Nev's there. they'll probably be looking for us soon."

"Hmm."

It fell silent again, and Harry felt himself starting to drift off into sleep...

*

Harry woke the next morning confused, not remembering falling asleep. He looked down and saw that he was wearing pajamas that he did not remember falling asleep in. He looked around and saw that he was in his room, and the sun was streaming in through the windows... He then realized that it was Christmas day, which meant presents! He shot out of bed and flew down the stairs, hoping that his parents were already awake. They didn't let him open his presents until they were there. He rushed into the large sitting room, and was pleasantly surprised to see his parents already there, sipping tea and talking. He noticed there were more presents than last year, but he suspected less were from his parents. He immediately grabbed the first package, and began tearing the paper off. He grinned when he saw what it was- a large bar of his favorite mint dark chocolate from his mom. He smiled at her before setting that aside and opening the rest of his presents.

He ended up with more or less the usual from the Weasleys- a sweater from Mrs. Weasley, a bag of jokes and candy from the twins, something Muggle from Mr. Weasley, a book from Percy, some chocolate from Ginny, and some little knick-knacks from Charlie and Bill. The only thing that was different was Ron's present. Usually, he got some Quidditch something, but this year all he'd received were a couple of Chocolate Frogs. Harry had mentally shrugged at that, not really caring about it. From Neville he had received a bag of owl treats that Harry suspected his grandmother had bought.

From both Theo and Blaise he had received books, the one from Theo entitled _Rare Jinxes and Hexes That Could Be Useful One Day_, and the one from Blaise a joke book that detailed several spells used for pulling pranks. Pansy had purchased him a hazardous amount of chocolate and sweets- not that he was complaining- and Draco had bought him a magical ice cream maker, which he was very eager to try out.

At family dinner on Christmas night, Harry remembered the night before.

"Oh- mum, dad, we're... moving?"

Lily looked up and smiled brightly at him. "Yes, sweetie. Back to Godric's Hollow. It really is a beautiful place. We're going to move this summer. Right when you get home."

Harry nodded. He honestly didn't care if they moved, as he would be spending the better part of the next six and a half years at Hogwarts.

*

The last few days of his break passed normally, with Harry eating the sweets he had gotten almost constantly. He was relieved when the morning of the train ride arrived, almost sprinting through the station to find his friends. He was very happy to be going back, and could not wait to see his friends again.

*

Harry started when he heard a curse being thrown at him from behind. He had just decided to take a short walk after dinner. It was his first night back, and he wanted to get reacquainted with the castle again. He turned around but didn't see anyone. He turned forward again, gripping his wand in his hand, and had just started walking again when another curse brushed past his side.

He jerked around and glared at the corridor, clutching his wand even tighter, all the years of hearing Auror stories and learning about protective measures from his parents coming back to him. He was just about to turn back around again when a curse was sent his way from behind a statue about ten feet away.

"Who's there?" Harry shouted in their direction, scanning the corridor. Three figures stepped out from behind the statue, their faces sneering and wands pointed directly at him. "Potter," the one in front spat. Harry thought he recognized the boy, but shook himself mentally. _No, it can't be him, my own house would never... _his thoughts were interrupted when another hex was shouted at him.

"_Pulmofrendo_!"

Harry dove out of the way, shoulder knocking roughly against the hard floor. He scrambled to his feet and took off down the corridor, adrenaline pumping through him. He had almost reached the corner when a hex caught his back and he felt an electric-like shock run through him, momentarily paralyzing him. More hexes were hurtled at him, all of them, thankfully, missing their target by a small fraction. The second Harry was able to move again, he sprinted around the corner and down that hall, trying to get away from his attackers as fast as possible. He ran up the next staircase he came across, and was immensely thankful when he saw the hallway he had appeared in was full of students. He moved to the center of the crowd, and let it carry him to the Slytherin common room. He immediately stepped into his dorm, and was surprised to see only Pansy in there.

"Pansy! Flint and his buddies attacked me!" He told the girl all about the attack. After he had finished, Pansy had a highly skeptical look on her face.

"Are you sure it was them?"

"Yes, Pans! They weren't exactly being discrete."

"Hmm."

"Ouch," Harry pouted, rubbing his head. "What was their problem?"

"Probably got orders from their parents over the hols to torment you. Don't let it bother you too much."

"Don't let it bother me? They're trying to kill me!"

Pansy scoffed at him. "It's not that serious, Harry."

"Really? The lung-crushing hex that was thrown at me was completely harmless, then?"

This time she rolled her eyes. "You are such a drama queen, Harry."

Harry gaped at her. "Lung! Crushing!"

"You don't even know that's what it was!"

"Yes, I do! Parents are _Aurors_, remember?"

"Harry, really..."

Harry threw his hands up in frustration. "Fine! I'll just have to get used to being attacked every time I leave a teacher's line of sight, then."

Pansy sighed. "Harry, you're a Slytherin. Look up some defensive spells, and just wait it out. They'll stop, especially if you can get some dirt on them."

"Dirt?"

"Blackmail, Harry. Blackmail."

"Oh."

"Yes. A little blackmail goes a long way. I'll try to get something on them. Now, how about you try to get to sleep? You look a bit shaken."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Will do, _mother_."

Pansy gave him a look, and then stomped out of the dorm, shutting the door behind her. Not ten seconds later, and the door was opened again and his roommates came walking in. He immediately told them all about the attack and what Pansy said. They all agreed with her on the blackmail, and moved on to other topics. Soon enough Harry had forgotten all about the attack, and was having fun sharing stories about vacation.

At about two o'clock in the morning, the boys decided it would probably be wise to go to sleep. Harry shot Draco an inquisitive look, and received a slightly reluctant nod in return. He hid his smile behind his pajamas as he got changed and climbed into the other boy's bed. He smiled when he felt the familiar feeling of sharing a bed with the blonde that he had missed over the holidays.

:::

**Note: I made up the lung-crushing spell, "pulmofrendo". It literally means, "lung crusher" in Latin. (Well, that's what an online translator told me.)**

**I do realize that this story is just crawling by sluggishly. It will get much more interesting once I can get them through the early years, as I have good plans for the later years.**

**Umm, so... I'mgoingonvacationagainandmaybewon'thaveinternetpleasedon'tkillme. I will most likely be able to write, though, so I'll have something finished when I get back. Hopefully.**

**Review?**


	8. NOW ON HOLD

Ohh wow. I haven't updated this in months.

Ok, you probably all hate me for posting one of these announcement things that are not part of he story. I know I absolutely despise it when authors do that. But now that I am a writer, I see why they have to do it.

I am sorry, sorry, sorry, a thousand times sorry for being one of those authors.

I have been trying and trying to get some kind of decent something put together for the next chapter, but so far I am having no luck at all. Every time I write anything, I almost immediately delete it all in disgust.

Which brings me to the main point of this announcement: **THIS STORY IS NOW ON HOLD.** Probably until summer at least.

The bottom line is really that I just don't have time for this. I don't have the hours that it will take to get back into the flow of this story.

-Strawberry.


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